This Broken Gospel
by Emilia Christine
Summary: Sequel to Distant Serenity. The wall put up in Sam's head by Death has been broken and the Leviathans have been let loose from Purgatory. Natalie and the Winchesters must now find a way to stop them from wreaking havoc. All the while, Death's warning to Natalie will come to a head in a way no one thought possible. Season 7. Banner: January Lily [BEING RE-WRITTEN]
1. Angel Hunting

_A/N: I am back and it feels so good to have this chapter done! I've had the hardest time in writing this and I am still not fond of it, but I do hope that you all like it. And I hope you all are excited for what's to come! _

_Let's get on with the chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural_

* * *

Natalie walked up the porch steps and opened the front door, peering her head in. "Aunt Clara?" She called out before stepping fully into the house. Natalie closed the door behind her as Clara made her way down the stairs.

"Hey, Nad."

Natalie flashed a quick smile, silently thinking how it was so gratifying to see Clara, after everything that has happened, there was a lot that Natalie needed to tell her. "Hi."

Clara, immediately, brought Natalie into a quick hug, which Natalie made sure to keep it going for a while longer. Clara seemed to have caught onto this and gave Natalie a few gentle rubs against her back. "Are you okay?" She asked as she pulled away.

Natalie huffed out a laugh. "Am I okay? No, I'm not, which is why I came here and also the reason why I called for Jake and David to meet us here as well."

"Well, David just called me not to long ago. He said him and Jake were not that far out, they'll be here soon."

"Good." Natalie nodded and rubbed at her tired eyes.

"Nad. Is everything alright?"

Natalie blew out a tired breath and looked back up. "There is just a lot that I need to tell you."

"Well, come on, let's go to the kitchen and we can talk."

Turning around, Natalie allowed Clara to guide her over into the kitchen when she suddenly decided to try and spark up a conversation.

"How are Sam and Dean?"

Natalie sighed, thinking back to how Sam was before she came up here. When they dragged him out of the lab, Sam was limited to nothing, but an oblivious state. Terrible shaking and looking wildly around him, Sam seemed to be completely lost within himself, whatever mental horrors were playing behind his eyes, it was throwing harsh punches at him. He wasn't able to focus on anything for more than a second.

During the ride back to Bobby's, Natalie had tried to converse with Sam, get his focus on something to help keep him in line and in tuned with everything around him. The minute they reached the house, Sam immediately passed out, sleeping through the entire night and all of the day after.

When Natalie left to come back to Clara's, Sam was awake for only a brief moment. He seemed a little lost, delirious, unsure of what he was seeing or thinking. Natalie observed the behavior for only a short time, before Sam fell back asleep. It was worrying for Natalie. He just seemed so "out of it" and to her, it was just the beginning of something far more worse.

"Uh." Natalie groaned as she took a seat at the island. "Not good. Nothing is going right, Aunt Clara. Everything is...taking a turn for the worse."

Clara leaned her elbows on the counter. "What happened?"

Natalie looked up at her, thinking of a way to give Clara a simplified explanation of what happened. "It's, um, Sam's wall..." Natalie paused to make sure Clara remembered what she was talking about and a nod from Clara told her to continue. "It's gone. The wall that was supposed to keep Sam safe, it's no longer there. So now, Sam is walking around with all of his memories of hell spilling out."

"I don't understand." Clara admitted. "He's only had the wall for a few months, how can it just break like that?"

Natalie gave Clara a grim look. "Cas."

Clara furrowed her brows. "What about him?"

"He broke down Sam's wall." Natalie saw the confused look on Clara's face and continued. "Trust me, it's kind of a long story, but, I'd rather tell all of it once David and Jake get here."

"Okay." Clara quietly agreed. "How are you doing then?"

"Angry, worried...actually I'm more scared then anything else." Natalie timidly admitted.

"I can see. The fact that you admitted the truth first hand instead of coming up with an excuse. Things must really be bad."

Natalie breathed out a laugh. "I think right now, there's no use in making up how I feel. It's so easily detectable."

The conversation was interrupted by the front door opening, both Clara and Natalie looked over and saw David and Jake walk in. David looked over in the kitchen, giving Natalie a quick nod as he closed the front door.

"Hey, Nad."

Natalie smiled. "Hey, David. Hey, Jake."

Jake and David sauntered over into the kitchen and both stopped at the counter and looked between Clara and Natalie. "So, why did you call us out here Nad?" David asked.

Natalie pressed both hands down onto the counter and took in a deep breath. "Okay, so first off, there's a bit that I haven't told you guys. So, Cas had been working with Crowley for the entire year."

The look on their faces made Natalie pause in order for her to take them in and she nodded her understanding of their shock.

"I know, we were surprised as well. But, Cas and Crowley were working to open the doors to Purgatory. This whole, civil war was going on in Heaven and Cas was trying to use the souls from Purgatory to stop Raphael. He was desperate. We tried to stop him, but...Cas opened the doors and he..."

Natalie paused and slowly shook her head, feeling her body give a shake at the memories from that night at the lab, how cold and harsh Castiel was towards all of them and leaving Sam to rot in his own mind.

"He essentially became the new God. Now, I called you two out here because I'm gonna need your help."

David and Jake both nodded their willingness to listen.

"I need you two to keep track of _everything. _Anything that may be suspicious, whether it be miracles or mass killings, anything you think could be him, I want you to call me. And, if you manage to see him on the T.V. or anywhere, you call me. Cas, he's, uh, using a man by the name of Jimmy Novak as his vessel. Look him up, I'm pretty sure you'll find some kind of photo to identify him with."

"Why are you so concerned about the fact that Castiel is now the new God? Shouldn't that be a somewhat good thing?" Jake asked.

Natalie shook her head. "You didn't see him that night, when he changed. It was like, he wasn't even Cas anymore, like something else took over his body. He's going to punish every single angel that followed Raphael and...who knows what he might do here. He said that he was a better God, so that leads me to believe, he's going to try and 'help' however he can."

"What are you going to do if we do find him?" Jake questioned. "I mean, don't you think going after Castiel, now that he's like this, isn't a good idea?"

Natalie hesitated and gave a half shrug, agreeing with him. "I know. We actually don't know what we're going to do. But, Bobby is trying to figure it out."

"I'm curious." Clara spoke up. "You told me about what Cas did to Sam...why did he do it?"

Natalie looked down at her hands as she began to her fingers against her knee. "When we found out that Crowley was alive, we tried tracking him down. But, we never told Cas, because, we were suspicious, since Cas was the one who burned Crowley's bones. We had to make sure that he didn't get in the way. But, when he finally admitted it to us and we learned about his plan to crack open Purgatory, we tried everything. We tried so hard to get him to not do it, but Cas wouldn't listen to us. So, finally, he got fed up. Gave us one last warning, to stay out of it and to let him stop Raphael, of course we didn't listen. Therefore, I suppose as leverage...Cas broke down Sam's wall. To get us to stop getting in his way."

Natalie looked up and saw the bewildered looks on all of their faces. She honestly didn't blame them for feeling like that. David and Jake never had the "pleasure" of meeting Castiel, but from what Natalie had told them, they both felt that Castiel was someone who they could trust. Right now, that seemed to be out of the question.

"Wait, Sam's wall...that was the reason you had me drop you off at that one place. Dr. Robert's place, right?" Jake suddenly asked.

"Yeah." Natalie nodded.

"So, you went through all of that and, what...Castiel just takes it away like it was nothing?"

Natalie simply shrugged at Jake's words which only made him scoff his own disbelief. "Honestly, I could care less about what I went through. The fact is...Sam is not okay. He may say that he is, but I know. But, there's nothing I can do. I'm at a stand still. I'm worried about Sam, but we need to find Cas before something much worse happens."

David nodded silently. "Well, Jake and I will set up our own surveillance, get a few of my connections to keep an eye out as well. We'll find him Nad."

Natalie nodded, relieved that she had David and Jake to help her, honestly, she knew that they would. There was no way either of them could push her away when she was looking for assistance. And for that she was incredibly grateful for.

"You know, I've been thinking about, when I first started hunting with Sam and Dean...how everything was so simple. It was just hunting...going and finding monsters to kill. And now it's all just over complicated."

"It's the life, Nad." Clara offered. "That's just how everything works in this job."

"I know." Natalie quickly responded. "It's just, I feel like, for some reason, this time...everything is going to be different. I don't know how, but, absolutely nothing is going to be the same anymore."

With her final thought given, Natalie pushed herself off the chair, feeling that she had already brought down the mood enough for the day. "Well, that's really all I needed to tell you all. I need to change out my clothes and then I need to head back." Natalie gave the three of them a quick smile before dashing up the stairs towards her room.

….

Stashing the rest of the new set of clothes she was going to bring, Natalie zipped up her bag and straightened her back, taking a quick glance around the room. A sudden grim and sad thought came over her. The last time she had actually been able to sleep in her own room was a few months ago, actually it was longer than that. Of course to Natalie, it felt like no time had been wasted. She had never really given it much thought, the fact that she was away from home more than her dad was when she was younger. The last time she saw her sister felt like ages ago and phone calls can only do so much. Not to mention the fact that Emily would be turning one very soon and Natalie was most likely going to miss it.

Natalie realized, while standing in the comfort of her room, she had become her father. Going on hunts and only able to call her family when she had time, which wasn't as often as her dad did. She felt almost distant from all of this, what it was like to have a constant, stable home, not one that was a traveling hunk of metal or a rundown motel. She became the one thing her father didn't want her to be and it made her feel disappointed with herself.

Her eyes then settled upon her dresser and stationed above it, on the wall, was her mirror which was decorated on the edges with various pictures she had placed there during the last year. Walking over, Natalie settled on two of the images. One, which was of her family on one of the camping trips her mom took them on and this one was special, because it was the first camping trip her father was able to go on with them. Natalie had found the photo downstairs in one of Clara's boxes and asked if she could have it, which Clara had no problem with.

Natalie reached up and gently pulled the photo off the mirror panel and brought it closer. She remembered when the picture was taken. They all had finally reached the top of this one path they had taken that went up a steep hill. Natalie, Marina and Andrew had only made it halfway when they began to complain. It was only met by their dad's over the top motivational attitude, pushing them to continue on. His hyped up energy seemed to only annoy his kids even more, since they were so tired from the hike. But, when they finally got to the top, Natalie remembered that all complaints and tiredness had went away when they were able to over look the entire forest. Clara, who had gone on the hike with them, called for a photo to be taken and the five of them quickly situated themselves for the quick photo.

Natalie smiled at the memory, letting out a quick laugh at how accomplished they all felt, then it all disappeared when they realized they still had more to climb. Natalie looked up at the second photo and pulled it off the panel. It was a photo that was taken of Natalie, Marina, Clara and Emily, who was only five months old at the time. It was a random day in which they all went out to the home of Ethan's parents. If Natalie was remembering it correctly, it was his brother's birthday and it was Natalie's first real gathering she had experienced in a long time.

Looking at the picture, Natalie could tell that the event had an impact on her by the way she was smiling in the picture. It was genuine, not forced. Probably the first time, after Sam jumped, Natalie was able to sport something like that. Natalie brought the two photos over to her bag and placed them in one of the pockets, knowing that she had no pictures that she kept in her possession and these two were the perfect candidates.

A small tapping at the door garnered Natalie's attention and when she looked over, she was greeted with the sight of Jake, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"You, uh, all ready to go?"

Natalie nodded, finishing with zipping up the pocket where the photos were currently stashed in. "Yeah, just needed to get a few more things."

Jake nodded, his eyes casually moving over to the photo mural she had on her mirror and his attention seemed to stay on that for a brief moment. "Are you okay, Nad?" He asked, still keeping his focus on the photos.

"No."

Natalie's straight forward answer caused Jake to look at her, surprised. "No? You're not going to try and give me some kind of excuse?"

Natalie laughed. "No. I think, me making up how I feel is starting to lose its spark."

Jake's surprised expression soon turned grim. "Things are that bad, huh?"

Natalie scoffed. "You have no idea Jake. Sometimes I wish that I could just freeze time and just live for however long I want to, before facing all of this again."

"Sounds like paradise to me. What I would give to get a break from all of this."

Natalie casted Jake a hesitant look, which Jake was able to catch very quickly. "If you and David don't want to help me, I mean that's completely fine..."

"No, no, no..." Jake quickly interrupted. "Nad, we'll always help you. That's not what I was talking about. I mean just a break from everything in general. The job...the stress."

Natalie nodded.

"Especially for my dad, you know. I can't remember the last time he was able to actually have time to just lay back and not have to worry about anything."

"It's a rarity, especially for us and what we do." Natalie commented.

"Yeah, but, even when I was younger, my dad always managed to find time...you know? Just a brief moment where he didn't have to worry about a job. Everything use to be actually...simple."

"I know exactly how you feel." Natalie huffed out. "I mean, like I said downstairs, when I first started hunting with Sam and Dean, it was simple. Find the monster and kill it. Then the whole...Apocalypse mess happened and...simplicity just went out the window."

"Well, not saying that this is a bad thing, but, you meeting Sam and Dean just kind of changed everything."

"No, you're right. That's something I've thought about a lot. But, the more I think about it, every action we make is just another domino being toppled over, creating more things for us to deal with. It's never-ending...or, at least, it feels that way."

"Well, we're gonna fix this. We're gonna find Castiel, don't worry Nad."

Natalie accepted Jake's reassurance all to easily. From the past couple of days she's had, Natalie could use that kind of assurance, even it was just filled with nothing except hope. "I hope so."

Turning to look down at her bag, Natalie could feel another thought thrust upon her and she looked back up at Jake, taking in a quick breath.

"Listen, Jake, um..." Natalie took the few steps towards him until she was standing in front of him. "I never really said thank you. For everything that you and David have done for me, especially with helping track down Elais. I know that was absolute hell."

Jake huffed out a laugh. "It wasn't easy and it was down right frustrating at times. But, Nad you don't need to thank us. It's what we do, right? Help each other."

"I'm just waiting for the day when you both turn me down for help." Natalie commented.

"That's never going to happen Nad."

"Anything can change, Jake. That's the nature of it all."

Jake crossed his arms, eyes narrowing slightly. "Why are you so convinced that we would stop helping you?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I guess I'm just being a real Debbie Downer about everything right now."

"Well, you have every reason too. Plus, it doesn't help the fact that you are worried constantly about Sam." Jake halted, seeing the confused look on Natalie's face. "I'm not saying that you being worried is a bad thing, its just...Nad when was the last time you focused solely on yourself?"

Natalie lowered her gaze, pondering on the question. "It's been a while." She quietly admitted. "I can't really get myself to start thinking that way. Too much is going on, my focus is elsewhere."

"Well, take it from me, you should start doing that more often."

Natalie let out a quiet laugh. "You're starting to sound like Andrew."

"That's the big brother instinct coming out of me, since, I am older than you." Jake gloated lightly at the end.

Natalie's eyes narrowed as she gave him a small gentle shove in his shoulder. "Only by a few months, don't start giving me that typical excuse."

"It's a great and completely logical excuse." Jake retorted, finishing off with a small laugh. "And I think if he were here right now, he'd be telling you the same thing."

"Yeah, he would." Natalie's smile faded and her gaze fell, her expression turning somber. "I miss them, Jake. My dad, my mom...my brother."

Jake nodded. "I know. I miss my mom too. But, I know that, I wouldn't be who I am today, if my mom had not died. That probably sounds harsh, but, it's the truth. And I know, that if none of this had happened, you probably wouldn't have met Sam and Dean."

Natalie pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It's still not fair though."

Jake gave a quick shrug. "This will be cliché, but, life isn't fair Nad. Especially, with what we do, we are always bound to get screwed with something."

"You always know how to give a good talk, don't you?"

Jake flashed a grin. "I'd like to think that it's my specialty."

Natalie hummed out a laugh. "Well, keep it up. Because I think I'm going to be needing a lot of it." She turned quickly, grabbed her bag from the bed and turned back towards him. "I guess I need to get going."

"Yeah." Jake nodded. "I'll call if my dad and I find anything on Castiel."

"I appreciate it, I really do."

"It's no problem Nad."

Natalie slipped her arms through the straps of her bag and nodded. Natalie walked out of the room and in the midst of her walk, she reached up and quickly brushed Jake's hair, which he retaliated by pushing her hand away, only forcing Natalie to laugh as she made her way down the stairs.

* * *

Sam sucked in a quick breath and realized that he was lying on his side, his sore eyes blinked open to nothing, but, blurriness. Sam felt like crap. Actually, correction, he felt like complete _shit._ Sam groaned and gently began to roll onto his back, finding out that he was settled in a bed in one of the spare rooms upstairs and the one thing that immediately threw him off was that neither Dean or Natalie was sitting by his side. He expected to see at least one of them waiting next to him.

Regardless of the fact that he was totally alone, Sam was hit by a massive wave of nausea with every little move he made. It pounded senselessly in his head and there was an agonizing pain that was throbbing behind his eyes. The tightness that he was feeling in his legs was annoying enough that Sam decided to try and get out of bed.

But, Sam was finding it very difficult to focus himself on just getting that simple task done. His mind was running with new memories and information from his period in the cage. He couldn't selectively pick out a memory, they were all clustering together in this massive ball that felt like it was doubling in size. The pressure he felt building made his head feel like it was going to explode any minute.

Even amongst the fast paced memories, Sam took notice that he could hear multiple voices swirling around in his ears. Some he recognized, such as, Dean and Natalie's, the other, he had no way of distinguishing who they belonged to or what they were saying.

Dean's voice was the first to come through clear as day. Sam could hear him, his brother's pleas that were uttered to Sam while he was unconscious.

_"You gotta wake up, Sammy. Please. Wake up._

The voice was so clear, Dean could've been saying them to Sam right at that moment, and that's what he thought. Sam pressed his hand up to his forehead as he rolled towards the side of the bed.

"...getting up...dean..." Sam slurred out.

He hadn't realized how weak and sore his body was. His attempt at trying to garner enough strength to support himself had failed and by the time he was nearly dangling near the edge, Sam paused, his chest heaving with heavy breaths. Sam moved his hand away from his forehead, feeling a constant softness that was wrapped around his palm. He tried his best to remember what had happened to his hand, but he was coming up empty.

Sam blew out a scoff at his failed attempt at recalling what happened. "Dean..." Sam said, his voice a lot more clearer, but his throat felt dry and scratchy.

Sam went back to try his best to conjure up what strength he could. It was a feeble attempt on Sam's part and he easily went over the edge of the bed. Sam didn't noticed he had fallen out of bed, only the abrupt sudden impact with the wooden floor stirred him.

Sam rested his cheek against the hardwood surface, sighing at the relief that it brought to his over heated face, which had been worked up by overexerting himself to get out of bed. With Dean's words still swirling around in his head, Sam could hear Natalie's voice mixing in, her words drowning out Dean's. But, Sam could hear the desperation in her voice.

_"...come back to me, Sam." _

Sam's eyes scrunched closed, Dean and Natalie's words morphing into one another until he could only hear Natalie. The pleading and desperation he could hear from her, the sense of hopelessness that underlined it, it was too much for Sam to withstand. But, in his clouded mind, Sam knew that he had gotten one task done. He was awake, which is what Dean wanted and now Sam needed to get to Natalie, or in this case, make sure she knows that he was up and running. Sam didn't have the mentality to remember that this was from a few days ago. Even if this information wasn't current, it was giving Sam the motivation to get up and move, even though he was currently lying face down on the ground.

Breathing out a strained groan, Sam pressed his weak palms against the hard surface and moved to rest his forehead against the wood. He weakly pressed down, only managing to get his body just a few inches off the ground when he stopped and fell back on his stomach. His left hand was throbbing and his arms were twitching from the exertion that was being forced on them.

_What the hell's wrong with me?_

Sam heaved out an annoyed breath, not knowing why his body was all of a sudden so weak to even move just slightly. It was just his head that was killing him, why was the rest of his body not cooperating? As intense as his internal argument was, Sam could hear a slow, steady hum begin to fill his ears and it gradually turned into obnoxious drumming that pounded against his ear drum. Now, this he could do without.

"Sam? What the hell are you doing on the floor?" Dean's question rang through Sam's intensive drumming.

Sam turned onto his side, feeling Dean's hand on his shoulder, helping to guide him. "Had to wake up..."

Dean scoffed at Sam's mundane answer. He secured his hold under Sam's arms and gently pulled him up into a sitting position, settling his back against the side of the bed. "Well, that's a great way of showing me that."

"...she wasn't here when...I woke up." Sam slurred out, sucking in a quick breath afterwards.

"What?"

"...nad...she's not here."

"Yeah, I know bud." Dean answered quietly.

"...where is she?" Sam questioned.

"She'll be back soon. Said that she needed to do a few things." Dean assured his brother, seeing that he was still a little delirious.

Sam scrunched his brows together. "...how long have I been out?" He asked, feeling like he was becoming more coherent the longer Dean had him talking.

"A few days. Here let's get you off the floor."

Dean pulled Sam's left arm around his shoulders and secured his other arm around Sam's right side. In a quick motion, along with the use of Sam's leg power that he provided, Dean pulled Sam up far enough to where he could easily sit him back down on the bed.

"Though you kind of woke up randomly." Dean added, causing his younger brother to look at him, confused. "It was only for quick moments, like you were startled out of a dream and then you fell right back to sleep. Here." Dean handed his brother a bottle of water, which Sam took, using his bandaged hand.

Sam paused, his arm still raised as his eyes assessed the bandage that was wrapped around his palm. Dean watched Sam, both remaining silent as Sam tried to pull back the memory of how he got this injury.

"You alright, Sam?" Dean questioned, his head angling towards Sam's face.

Sam flexed his hand, opening and closing his palm, feeling the stitching in his hand tug with each time he moved his fingers. Suddenly the memory came back, being back at the lab, Castiel leaving them behind and him falling. A shard of glass got stuck in his hand and he faintly remembered Natalie pulling it out and that's when the memory went fuzzy.

"Yeah." He breathed out. "It just kind of came back to me." Sam answered, gesturing with his injured hand.

"How's your head doing, by the way?" Dean asked.

Pulling up a chair in front of Sam, Dean sat down and motioned for Sam's injured, which he offered without much hesitation. Dean pulled back the bandages to assess the injury.

"Um. It's fine, I guess." Sam answered, unsure of what was really going on in his head.

"Really?" Dean asked doubtfully, his brows raising for effect, though his eyes remained focused on Sam's palm.

"I mean it. I'm not sure. It all just seems really jumbled. I can't just pick out a selective memory, it's all coming in one big wave."

Dean didn't know exactly what to think of it. He was worried, yes, Sam's memories were all spilling back into his mind, but how exactly it was occurring was nothing short of a mystery for Dean. He wasn't sure if he felt better that it all came at once or if he would feel better if it came one at a time. At least, during the latter, Sam would be able to recover somewhat from each memory. Either way, each option wasn't Dean's preferred choice.

"At least you're coherent now." Dean commented. Taking out a new roll of bandages, Dean began to wrap it around Sam's palm.

"Heard anything about Cas yet?"

Dean ticked a visible grimace and decided to leave the question open until he was done with Sam's hand, which was completed quicker than Dean was anticipating.

"Dean." Sam pressed again, knowing that his brother was trying to avoid the subject.

"No, Sam. We haven't heard anything yet and to be honest, I'd rather keep it that way for now. Don't even worry about Cas right now."

Sam sulked down in his posture, slowly nodding his head at Dean, which took the older brother by surprise. Sam would've usually had something to say, but Dean could only guess that Sam didn't have the energy to put up a front against Dean, which he was thankful for at the moment. Just thinking about what Castiel did make Dean feel almost nauseous.

"How's the car?" Sam suddenly asked after the memory of seeing the vehicle wrecked came back to mind.

Dean looked over at him. "What?"

"The car. Last time I remember, it was a total wreck."

"Oh, right," Dean raised his brows. "Out in the yard, trying to fix her up. The only good thing is that it's keeping me occupied."

Sam nodded silently. "So, it really is quiet out there right now."

"Nearly silent."

Sam was content, for now. Or at least, that's how he thought he felt. Honestly, Sam knew that even if they did find another job, they wouldn't take it. One, Dean would insist that Sam should take more time to rest and two, Sam would agree with him. His feeble attempt to try and get out of bed ended up with him lying face down on the floor. Needless to say, Sam was in no condition to just hop right back onto the road.

"I think that's actually a blessing right now." Sam commented before taking a long drink from his bottle, nearly drinking the entire thing, stopping when the bottle was halfway empty.

Dean raised a brow at his brother. "You thirsty?"

Sam tried to scoff, but it came out as just a weak breath. "Shut up."

Placing the water bottle down on the night table, Sam came up with the quick idea that he was going to take a shower. For one, he had been sleeping for a few days and he felt gross with his hair sticking in various directions, he just wanted to get clean.

"I'm going to take a shower." He announced as he tried to push himself up from the bed, which Dean was quick to stand by his side.

"You sure that's a good idea? I mean, will you even be able to stand in there?" Dean asked, unsure, as he kept a firm hold on Sam's arm, keeping him balanced.

Sam casted his brother a look. "Of course."

"Really? This is coming from the guy who fell out of bed because he was trying to get up."

"I was still disoriented Dean, I'm fine now. See?" Sam pulled his arm out of Dean's grasp and gestured to himself, showing that he was completely capable of standing on his own two feet without his older brother trying to monitor his every move.

"Yeah, right."

"Dean. Seriously." Sam snapped in annoyance. "I'll be fine. I'm not as dizzy."

"Fine, I'll give you the benefit of a doubt." Dean answered.

Sam hummed at Dean's acceptance as he began to sorely walk out of the room.

"Just know that if you pass out in the shower, I'm gonna have to haul your ass out of there. Just remember that."

Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head as he sauntered out into the hallway, managing to mutter "Whatever."

* * *

Natalie parked the car a little farther away from the garage and turned off the ignition. Reaching over to the passenger seat, she picked up her bag before stepping out of the car. Holding onto the bag handle, Natalie shut the car door and began to walk towards the beaten Impala, where Dean was now back at his work, which was trying to restore it.

Stopping near the car, Natalie slid her hand into her pocket. "Are you sure you're gonna be able to get this thing looking like new?"

Dean paused and leaned out of the car, looking up at her. "Nice to see you too, Nad. And yes, I will be able to. I've done it before."

"That's no surprise there." Natalie retorted lightly as she turned to look up at the house. "Is Sam awake?"

"Yep." Dean wiped his hands with a small towel. "Been up and running for about an hour now."

"How do you think he is?" She asked, turning her gaze back to him.

Dean shrugged. "He says he's fine, he seemed fine, aside from the fact that he was a little...delirious when he first woke up, but it got better."

"Do you really think that he's fine, Dean?"

Dean looked down at his hands, which were still stained with grease from the car. "No. I mean he says he is, but, we have no way of knowing what's going on in his mind right now."

"Yeah." Natalie breathed out.

"So..." Dean pushed himself out of the car and picked up his beer, which was sitting on one of the tool boxes. "How was your trip?"

"Fine, I guess. It wasn't anything special. But, I talked with David and told him to keep an eye out for anything that might be related to Cas."

Dean nodded. "Did you tell them everything?"

"Pretty much. I didn't go into painstaking details about it all, but, it was enough to get them started."

Dean hummed. "So, what did you tell them to watch out for, exactly?"

"Anything that might seem a bit off...you know, miracles being performed or weird killings, maybe. Also told them who he was using as a vessel, that way, they could keep an eye out for him."

Dean didn't respond, but judging by the look on his face, there was no doubt that he seemed to have a problem with this. Well, maybe not exactly a problem, but he was skeptical.

"You think they'll find him?" Natalie went onto ask.

"I'll be honest, Nad. I hope they don't."

Natalie furrowed her brows at Dean. "What do you mean?"

"We try and find him, how pissed do you think he's going to be? You saw how he was that night at the lab. From what I saw he was very close of just...wiping us out of the picture. I'm just saying that us going after him is not exactly a good idea."

"You might think that, but I don't." Natalie replied, earning a small scoff from Dean. "Listen, you really want us to just leave it alone? And let him do whatever the hell he wants?"

"Cas is not Cas anymore Nad. He cracked down Sam's wall and left him to drown in that mess. You're telling me that going against him is the logical decision."

"I'm not saying that we should put up a full front against Cas."

Dean raised his arms up. "Then, what? If we do manage to find out what Cas is doing, what do you expect us to do about it?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. We don't have a clue of how to handle this. So, for right now, just leave it alone. And if we do get info on where he is, we'll take it from there. Alright?"

Natalie was quiet, her lips pursed to the side. Usually, by now, there would be a long debate going on between both of them. But, there was no motivation. Dean didn't want to hear it and Natalie didn't want to be the one to start it.

Instead, she merely nodded her head. "Fine. You get back to working on the car, I'll be inside."

Natalie turned and walked over to the porch, taking the few steps slowly and opened the front door. Walking in, she closed the door quietly behind her and sauntered into the kitchen. She set down her bag at the kitchen table and looked into the next room, where Bobby and Sam were both sitting at his desk, reading through books.

Natalie could feel a small smile appear. Sam was awake and up and by the looks of it, he seemed...fine, which honestly confused her. Castiel broke down Sam's wall, he should be dealing with some kind of brutal repercussion. Not that she wanted him to go through that, but it was something that was expected and warned about. And now, here he was just sitting there, almost like nothing had happened.

Natalie had been so caught up in her thoughts, she never noticed that Bobby had called her name quite a few times in the past minute. When she finally came to, she saw Bobby and Sam both staring at her.

"What?"

Bobby raised his brows. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm not the one you should be asking." Natalie commented as she walked into the room and made her way over to Sam. "How are you feeling?"

Sam shrugged. "Fine."

"Really?" Natalie asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well, I mean, I don't feel one hundred percent, but, I'm better than I thought I would be." Sam answered truthfully.

"I'll take your word for it then." Natalie said. "Have you found anything Bobby?"

"Nope. Nothing." Bobby set down the book and sighed. "I've just been reading at random, hoping to find something that would help."

"Mind if I give it a shot. Might as well, since there's nothing else for me to do."

"Sure, why not. Knock yourself out." Bobby stood up from his chair, offering it to Natalie, who quickly sat down. "I'll go and see how Dean's doing."

Natalie nodded and watched silently as Bobby left, then her attention turned to Sam. "Are you gonna go to?"

Sam thought for a moment and then shook his head, turning back towards the desk. "No. I'll stay here with you...help you out."

Natalie smiled. "Well, it seems like you've been at this since you woke up...so, if you want to take a break from it that's fine. In fact, I think that's a good idea."

"I'll be fine Nad."

"Okay."

Natalie looked down at the book Bobby was reading and pulled it towards her, flipping the book open.

"So, uh...when I woke up, you weren't here." Sam's words caused Natalie to look up at him. "Where were you?"

"Oh. I just, uh, took a trip back out to Aunt Clara's. Talked with her and then I told David that he needed to keep an eye out for..." Natalie paused and sighed when she began to think about Castiel. "...you know."

"Oh."

Natalie's brows creased at Sam's monotone answer and saw that the expression on his face seemed almost somber. The reason, Natalie couldn't come up with one on the spot, but she was curious.

"Hey." She leaned her elbows on the desk and leaned forward. "Are you alright?"

"No. Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. It's just, when I woke up..." Sam paused at the expectant look on Natalie's face and he suddenly realized how ridiculous he felt about himself.

_"You woke up alone. Felt a little down about that, didn't you Sam?" _

Sam's face froze at hearing Lucifer's voice creep up behind him. "Never mind. I was just a little curious as to where you were."

Natalie nodded skeptically at Sam's words. "Sorry, I wasn't with you when you woke up. Really wish I was."

"No, it's fine Nad, really."

_"Oh, you little liar." _

Sam sighed at hearing Lucifer's snarky reply. "Um, by the way, have you been able to find anything about Caden yet?"

Natalie shook her head. "No. I tried praying to him, multiple times, nothing. I don't know where he is, or even if he's...alright."

"I'm sorry."

Natalie looked up at Sam, surprised at his apology. "Why are you sorry?"

"It's just, I know Dean and I were a little...skeptical about him. But, he helped us many times and even saved your life. The more I think about it, he was really the only angel who didn't hide anything from us."

"That's because he was always left out of everything. Even Cas told Balthazar that Crowley was alive, but not Caden. And I can only assume it's because of our connection with him." Natalie washed a hand down her face. "I just feel guilty."

"Why?"

"If Caden had not met me or decided to help me in any way, he wouldn't of gotten into this kind of mess. Not going against Cas would've probably saved him in the end."

"You don't know that Nad. I mean, for all we know, Caden could've found out on his own and he could've still gone against Cas. It's not your fault."

"That's not what Balthazar said."

Sam scoffed. "You're going to take what he said to heart?"

"He told me that, ever since Caden got involved with me, he was getting himself into more trouble. Said that he learned from the best. Don't really know how to feel about that."

"You can't change what happened Nad. Caden made his choice, therefore, anything that comes after that is his fault. It was his doing."

"Yeah, I guess."

Natalie picked the book back up and began to read through the page that she had stopped on, hoping that it would take her mind off of Caden. Other than Sam, Caden was also another topic that she became worried about. Castiel disappeared with him that night in the lab and she had not had any kind of contact with him since.

What happened to him? Was he alive? Or was he dead? Did Castiel force him into some kind of unbearable torture for going against him?

While keeping a watch over Sam when he was unconscious, Natalie's thoughts would often be interrupted by the thought of what happened to Caden? For a while, she actually thought that he was dead and for a while, she felt that was probably best. It was certainly better than the thought of him being forced to go through whatever kind of torture Castiel would've put him through.

But, in a sense, what Sam had told Natalie, about Caden making his own choice, it was all true. Caden, when Natalie first met him, he was a typical angel, following whatever orders he was given. A good warrior. But, in the few times that Natalie saw him after their first meeting, she could see small changes were taking place. Caden would start to show emotions, most importantly, confliction and doubt.

Especially when she passed on the information about Castiel. Caden's loyalty that he expressed to Castiel and to her, it was conflicting to him. He didn't know how to process the fact that Castiel would keep something like that from him and work with a demon. Essentially, Caden was working alongside Crowley and he didn't even know it.

Natalie drew out a long yawn as she settled more into the chair, trying to get her focus to narrow down on just reading for-well, she didn't exactly know where she was supposed to start at. But, she hoped that by just reading, she'll find something that would prove useful for them.

Sam had only managed to keep his focus on the book for a short time. He found himself staring at Natalie, his eyes roaming over her face. Thinking back to when he first woke up, finding that no one was with him. Granted, Natalie was out at Clara's and Dean was most likely gone for only a minute or two by the time he woke up. But, Sam, from the few times he actually passed out, when he would regain consciousness, the first thing he saw was Natalie staring down at him. It was a sight he grew to expect whenever he would wake up from an episode. And for some reason, when he woke up and didn't see her there, he couldn't help but feel disappointed and feel the urgent sense of wanting.

The one memory Sam could see vividly was being in that lab with everyone else, with Natalie by his side. But, even then, his mind was acting as a full bowl that was mixing everything together, creating one big mess. There was no moment for him to really relish at being able to see her, after the massive mind meld he went through in that panic room. And before he knew it, Sam slipped right back into unconsciousness.

Now that he was able to see her and actually have a conversation, after everything that went down, Sam felt like, oddly, things were trying to get put back into place. But, that was a long shot from where they were all standing now. There was no way things could return to how things were, not even mildly close after everything that happened.

Sam even came to the conclusion that whatever kind of tension or awkwardness that had been evident between, it seemed so foreign now. And he would think so. After it seemed like Sam wouldn't make it, of course anything that had to do with this relationship business between Natalie and Sam would no longer be evident. Sam was glad for this. It was suffocating to him and he was fairly certain that it was the same for Natalie.

Sam felt himself slip back into that questioning state of where he stood on this foundation that Natalie created. What did he feel? Yes, there was still the matter of trying to find Castiel, but as of now, in this silence, Sam was granted the time to actually think about it again and he was only met with his own confliction, once again.

_"You poor, poor clueless guy." _

Lucifer's voice rang through the silence, though of course, Natalie didn't hear a thing. Sam breathed out a quiet breath.

_"I swear this whole tugging going on in your mind is frustrating right now. Just make up your mind. You already know the answer."_

"Shut up." Sam quietly snapped.

Natalie jumped slightly and looked up at Sam, who had his head turned to the side like he was looking at someone and her eyes followed towards the same direction. "What?" She spoke up.

Sam quickly looked at her, seeing the confused expression written on her face. "Nothing."

Natalie could see that Sam was fidgeting almost, his fingers tapping against the table and he looked almost, annoyed, like he was trying to ignore something. "You said, shut up, I heard you."

"Sorry, it's just, um...it's nothing. Sorry." Sam quickly answered.

_"Now Sam, when are you going to start telling Natalie the truth? You know lying isn't good." _

Sam shut his eyes, hands slowly closed into fists, so tightly that his knuckles started to turn white. Natalie immediately shut the book and set it down on the table, thinking that Sam was finally dealing with some kind of episode from his wall breaking down.

"Sam? Hey." Natalie began, thinking that if she got him talking it would help. "Hey."

Sam bit on the inside of his cheek, allowing himself to look up at her.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just, my head still sort of hurts. I'm fine."

Natalie pursed her lips together. "I need you to promise me something then."

_"Yeah, Sam. You will be able to promise her something." _

Sam scrunched his eyes closed, head hung down, his face contorting into something Natalie couldn't quite pinpoint. Natalie reached forward, her hand lightly grasping onto his enclosed hand.

"Sam." She waited for him to look at her. "I need you to promise me something, can you do that?"

Sam took in a breath and nodded.

"If something starts to happen, I want you to tell me. Okay? You have to promise me that you won't keep it a secret. This isn't something that you can just hide away. You don't have to trudge through this alone, Sam. So promise me that you will say when it gets to much. Promise?"

Sam moved his gaze down to her hand that was resting on his fist. Lucifer's taunts were still making their annoying presence heard, but, Sam could feel the tension in his shoulders begin to release. Talking with her, it was helping. Hoping that it would help more, Sam fully opened his hand, turning his palm up and held Natalie's hand in his own, her own grip tightening. Sam kept a hardened look on their entwined hands, mentally forcing himself to focus on this, what was happening right now. He was awake and Natalie was here with him. That's all he needed right now. This solid foundation of what was true to him was formed. He knew now that this is what he needed to hold onto during these taunting sessions.

"I promise." Sam finally answered.

Natalie kept her eyes on Sam's, waiting for any other kind of clarification from him that he was telling her the truth and Sam could see it resonating in her eyes. Sam answered with a reassuring squeeze and a faint smile, his own way of telling her that he was telling the truth. Natalie gave a quick nod and they both released their holds on each other.

* * *

Researching now has been placed at the top of Natalie's least favorite things to do. In all honesty, she never really like researching, but now, she was frustrated and exhausted from all of the reading she had been doing for the past few hours. And she didn't come up with anything. Nothing she read through proved to be of any value for them. The only way Natalie answered to this, was to read through more books. As much as she loathed at the idea, Natalie trudged on through more of Bobby's books. Sam even got tired from it all, eventually taking a break from their reading session and going out to talk with Dean and Bobby, which Natalie didn't have a problem with.

When she was finally alone, Natalie began to think about where exactly her and Sam were now, which was incredibly selfish of her and Natalie tried her best to push it out of her mind, but she couldn't. She remembered what she had told Sam. That once this whole thing with Castiel had been dealt with, then they might be able to finally settle it. Now, the issue with Castiel was far from being handled and Sam's head was a free range for anything to start making his life a living hell. The minute Sam's wall was broken, Natalie knew that any chance of them actually coming to a conclusion of this anytime soon had been demolished.

Natalie's way of appeasing her mind was to just continue reading, but even that was becoming a dull distraction. In her own vain attempt to keep herself focused, Natalie switched on the TV and left it on one of the news stations. If there was going to be anything that would gain their attention, it would be reported on the news. The newscaster's voice bounced softly around the room, creating a easy noise that helped lull Natalie back into reading.

_"This just in. The death of 200 religious leaders is now under full investigation..." _

Natalie slowly looked up from the book, towards the TV.

_"These killings have been spanned out over the past few hours. The Vatican have yet to make a statement about the events, but some are already calling it an act of God." _

Natalie slowly leaned forward in her chair, setting the book down on the table, her eyes glued on the television.

_"He didn't look like how we all expected." _A woman on the screen soon appeared. _"He didn't have a beard, no robe. He was young and...sexy. And he also had a raincoat on." _

Natalie rolled her eyes at the woman's compliment of Castiel's features and huffed out a breath. "Looks like we now know what you're doing Cas."

Natalie went to stand up from the seat when she paused at seeing her phone light up with a message. Picked up the phone, she stood up to her feet and scrolled through the messages that Jake was sending her.

_"Guess you probably already know about the religious leaders. Dad and I have already tracked down a few more, they'll be on the news soon. Also, several groups are now disbanding, including the Ku Klux Klan." _

Natalie hummed to herself. "I'm not gonna complain about that one."

The sound of footsteps walking into the kitchen caught Natalie's attention and she snapped her head up, seeing Dean walking into the room. "You still in here, reading?"

"Yeah." Natalie replied nonchalantly. "Look at this." Natalie walked over next to Dean and pointed at the TV which was still showing the headline about the leaders. "200 religious leaders have been killed in the past few hours. Jake just messaged me saying that a few more have been killed and that several religious groups are disbanding."

"And you're sure that this is Cas?"

"A woman on the news said that he, "had no beard, no robe and was sexy. Also, he had a raincoat." I'm pretty sure that it's Cas, Dean." Natalie replied coolly.

"He really is taking this job seriously." Dean commented, though there was no sarcastic tone in his voice.

Natalie silently nodded, watching the screen for a while longer. "What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do, Nad."

"So, what, you just want us to sit here while Cas is out there wreaking havoc like this?" She asked, staring up at him.

"It's the only thing we can do. We can't just go in, guns blazing, when we have no idea how to stop him."

"Well, then we need to find a way to stop him."

"Have you found anything yet."

Natalie sighed. "No. Not yet."

"Well, if you find anything...let us know." Dean turned and walked out of the house.

"Dean wa-" Natalie stopped and allowed her head to hang back for a moment, trying to gather herself. She turned back towards the desk and sat down in the chair.

Natalie ran her hands down her face and blew out a breath before pulling the book back towards her. Flipping through some of the pages, Natalie ended up on a section about reapers and what their function in the supernatural world was. She lazily read through the paragraphs when she was suddenly struck with a memory.

"Reapers...reapers..." Natalie continuously repeated the word, her brows furrowing as she tried to sort out this memory that sparked up. Her eyes then widened at the realization. "Reapers...Death. It's Death. Of course!"

Natalie shot up from her chair and in her attempt to run out of the room, banged her hip against the side of the desk. "Dammit." She hissed as she ran out of the house and towards the garage where she saw Bobby, Dean and Sam talking.

"It's Death!" Natalie called out, startling the three hunters. She came to a halt in front of them, her chest heaving slightly from hard breaths. "It's Death."

Natalie looked quickly between the three of them, only to receive confused and expectant looks from them. "What?" Dean finally asked.

"What we've been looking for? It's Death. He's the one who can stop Cas." Natalie answered.

"How is Death going to do that?" Bobby asked curiously.

Natalie looked over at Dean. "Remember when you and I went up to Chicago, to get his ring to open the cage? Well, Death told us that he would reap God someday..." Natalie's sentence trailed off, waiting to see Dean remember what she was talking about.

Dean's face finally lit up. "Right. So, if he can reap Cas..."

"Then he'll be able to stop Cas and all of this, all that he's doing, will be over with."

"And how exactly are we supposed to get Death to answer us?" Bobby asked.

"Simple." Natalie replied with a small smirk. "We summon him."

"Summon Death?" Bobby clarified, earning a quick nod from her. "And what makes you think he'll actually do it? I mean, he already did you a favor."

Natalie's expression faltered. "Right...um, I don't know. Maybe, we can catch him in a good mood."

Bobby scoffed out a laugh. "Great answer, Nad."

"It's better than us just sitting on our asses, letting Cas do whatever the hell he wants." Natalie quickly retorted. "This is our only chance."

Dean shrugged. "Well, if we do this, then you have to be the one to ask Death."

Natalie furrowed her brows. "What? Why me?"

"Honestly." Dean said. "Because I think, out of all of us, Death likes you the most."

Natalie scoffed in her own disagreement. "I think like is to strong of a word to be using with Death."

….

Natalie placed the last ingredients for the summoning into the bowl, pulled out a few matches, lit them and threw them into the bowl, igniting a huge flame. Setting down the matches onto the table, the four hunters looked up to the satisfying sight of Crowley standing in the middle of their devil trap that they had scrawled on the floor.

Crowley, who seemed a little dazed from this, looked around him and groaned in frustration. "Oh no. You've got to be bloody joking!"

"Hey, Crowley." Natalie greeted with a huge smile. "Long time no see, right?"

"Why did you summon me? My new boss is going to bloody kill me if he finds out that I'm talking to you lot."

Natalie tilted her head curiously. "Your new boss? And who would that be?"

"Who do you think it is?" Crowley snapped, the mockery in his tone caused Natalie to scoff out a laugh. "It's Castiel." Crowley finished.

"Wait." Sam stood up from where he was sitting and walked towards Crowley. "Cas is your new boss."

"Of course he is. He's everyone's boss right now, he's got the upper hand on everything. And if he finds out that I have been conspiring with you three..." Crowley let out a huff. "He'll have my head that's for sure."

"Sounds like a fair trade to me." Natalie commented.

Crowley rolled his eyes at Natalie's comment. "What do you all want?"

"We need you to give us a spell to bind Death." Dean answered.

Crowley looked between the four hunters, expecting to see some kind of hint that they were joking...they weren't. "Seriously. You want to bind Death? Enslave him. You all are playing some kind of joke on me, aren't you?"

"No, we're serious Crowley." Natalie said.

"Well, sorry to burst all your bubbles, but I can't do that."

"Why not?" Dean asked. "Lucifer was able to do it."

"That was Lucifer." Crowley reminded.

"It's just a simple spell Crowley. All you have to do is give us it and we'll let you go." Sam added.

"You all are so clueless aren't you? You aren't just talking about binding anything, this is Death we're talking about. He's this huge power and you want to trap him! You all are delusional!"

Natalie gave an annoyed groan. "Alright, Crowley we get it, we're crazy and stupid. But, Death is literally the only thing we have left and he even told Dean and I that he will be able to reap God. That's why we need him."

"Why can't you all just leave it alone? Clearly, these are the only two people on this planet who will be able to squash us into nothing. This is a suicide mission and I'd rather not help you with killing yourselves."

"Then I guess there is only one thing to think about Crowley." Natalie said. "Do you really want Cas to keep a reign on everything? Or would you like to see him stopped? Because if you give us that spell, we'll be able to."

Crowley actually began to consider the crazy idea and his eyes narrowed at them. "What even makes you think that Death would be willing to do another favor for you all?"

"We'll have him tied down." Dean answered.

"And you're going to challenge Death like that? Not a very smart thing to do Dean." Crowley scolded.

"If I could convince Death to make a deal with me, to get Sam's soul out of Lucifer's cage, then I'm sure we'll be able to get him to wipe out Cas." Natalie added, although deep down, she was skeptical about it herself.

"How do I know that this plan won't fall apart?" Crowley asked, his eyes narrowing.

"This is the only thing we've got." Natalie answered. "Now, we can either sit on our thumbs and let Cas do what he wants..."

Crowley gave his own shrug of agreement with Natalie's statement.

"Or. You can help us get Death and he can make sure that Cas is off your back end. I mean come on Crowley, I know you hate having someone high above you, looming over your shoulder like that. So, what's it gonna be?" She finished, her brows raising for effect.

* * *

Natalie stood in front of a large table, her arms folded across her chest and pursed together as she shook her head at the sight she was looking at. "Dean. This really is not us at our best." She finally commented.

Dean walked back over to her and paused to take a look back. "I know, but, what were we going to do about them?" He gestured to the two people who were tied up in chairs.

"This really isn't..." Natalie groaned as she rubbed at the side of her face. "We just broke into their home and freaking tied them up..." She paused when she saw Dean readying the ingredients for the spell. "And now, we performing a summoning spell in front of them. What the hell?"

"Sometimes you have to do things you wouldn't normally do."

"When has anything we've ever done been normal?" Natalie questioned.

Dean thought on the question for a moment and shrugged. "Very true."

Natalie pursed her lips as she began to recollect the events that led up to these poor two people to be tied up, after they broke into their home. Crowley finally cracked, agreeing to give them the spell that would help them bound Death. Most of the ingredients they already had, except for one. It was something that Bobby described as, "an act of God crystallized forever". Natalie literally felt dumbfounded when she heard that, thinking that it was something Crowley made up to throw them off, but no, it was an actual thing.

Bobby managed to track down the object through an auction and the people that bought it, lived nine hours away from South Dakota. Then off they were. But, Natalie never expected to walk in on Dean tying people up in chairs. That was certainly a scene that earned Dean a hardened stare not only from Natalie, but Bobby and Sam as well.

"Come on. Let's get to work." Dean quickly commented.

Natalie nodded and turned around, helping Sam and Dean move a few of the lounge chairs out of the way. As Sam and Dean went to work on a coffee table, Natalie stationed a huge chair next to a small table and set out a bag of food and soda. It was Dean's idea, as a way to most likely keep at bay most of Death's annoyance he would feel once he realized what they had done.

Turning around, Natalie walked back over as Bobby set down the bowl of ingredients. Folding her arms over her chest, Natalie took a moment and looked back at the man and woman, bound and gagged in their chairs, looking at them with a mixture of fear and confusion. Natalie couldn't help but cast them a small apologetic smile before turning back around.

"You three ready?" Bobby asked.

Dean shrugged. "Let's just get this done and over with."

Bobby turned back towards the bowl and took out the paper that Crowley had given them. "Te nunc invoco, mortem..."

The entire room began to shake, the various glass cases that were occupying the area were shattering from the force.

"Te in mea potestate defixi. Nunc et in aeternum!"

Natalie looked up at the sound of something snapping and saw huge cracks were cutting into the roof of the home and running down the length of the walls, only to stop halfway. The shaking then stopped abruptly, the silence filled with the sound of a few pieces of glass falling onto the floor. But, there was no sign of Death. Natalie looked over at Sam and Dean, who both were thinking why he wasn't here.

"Hello?" Dean suddenly spoke out. "Death?"

"You must be joking."

Natalie quickly looked over and saw Death, with the most annoyed look on his face. Natalie could see Bobby back up as Dean took a few steps towards him.

"Listen, Death...this isn't what it seems." Dean began.

"No. It just seems like you all bounded me." Death held up his arms, revealing a bond that was tied around his wrists.

"It's for a good reason though. We just need you to hear us out first. You want a pickle chip? They're the best in the state."

"You really think it will be that easy to soothe me Dean? Now, this is really about Sam's hallucinations, isn't it?"

"Wait, what?" Natalie turned quickly to Sam, who was expressing a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry, Sam. There is only one wall per customer." Death turned back to Dean. "Now, unbind me."

"We can't." Sam suddenly spoke up, causing Death to turn his gaze back to him. "At least, not yet."

"You all should know then that this isn't going to end well for you."

"We need you to kill god." Dean said.

"Pardon?"

"Kill God." Bobby clarified. "You heard right. Your...Honor."

"And what makes you think that I can do that?"

"Because..." Natalie stepped forward. "You told me and Dean that, when we came to see you in Chicago."

"Then why should I?"

"Because we said so, and we're the boss of you." Natalie, Sam and Bobby both turned slowly to Dean, their eyes wide and set in a hardened stare. "I mean...respectfully." Dean added.

"Amazing." Castiel's voice filtered through, causing everyone to turn their attentions on him.

Natalie couldn't help but cringe at the sight of Castiel, his face looked horrible. Almost like his skin was beginning to melt.

"I really didn't want to kill you, but now..."

"You can't kill us Cas." Dean interrupted. "Death is our bitch. We won't die, even if God pulls the trigger."

"Annoying little protozoa, aren't they?" Death said, the annoyance in his voice evident. "God? I must say, you look awfully like a mutated angel to me. Your vessel's melting...you're going to explode."

"No, I'm not. When I have finished everything that I need to do, I'll repair myself."

"You think you can because you think you're under the weight of all those souls, yes? But, that's not what you should be concerned about. There are things much older than souls in Purgatory, and you gulped those in, too."

"I have control over them." Castiel retorted, a slight smug look on his face.

"For the moment..."

"Wait, what do you mean by older things?" Dean asked.

"Long before God created Angels and man, he made the first beasts-the Leviathans."

"Leviathans?" Natalie repeated.

"I personally found them entertaining, but he was concerned they'd chomp the entire petri dish, so he locked them away." Death shook his head at Castiel. "Why do you think he created Purgatory? To keep those clever, poisonous things out. Now Castiel has swallowed them. He's the thin membrane that is keeping those things from coming into your home."

"Enough." Castiel called out.

"Stupid little soldier you are." Death mocked.

"Why? Because I actually dared to open a door that he shut? Where is he exactly? I did a service, taking his place. I'm cleaning up one mess after another."

"Quite the humanitarian you are."

"And how would you know? What are you then? A flyswatter?"

"Destine to swat you, I think. You really think that you were the one called to do this. I know God, Castiel. And you are no God."

"Okay, can you both just put your junk away. Just kill him now!" Dean ordered.

Castiel slowly turned towards Dean, his eyes locked in a blank stare that caused Natalie to grow tense.

"Fine." Death spoke as he raised his hand. Castiel then snapped his fingers, causing the bonds around Death's wrists to disappear."Thank you. Shall we kickbox now?" Death asked as Castiel turned back to him, not giving him an answer.

Death sighed and walked over to the table where the bag of food was and sat down. "You know I had a feeling I'd be reaping someone very soon."

Natalie looked back over to where Castiel was standing only to find that the angel was gone.

"Well, he was in a hurry."

The four hunters descended into silence, watching as Death began to eat the food, occasionally stopping to take a drink from the cup. Natalie looked around at the others, each of them wanting to say something, but a little intimidated from doing so. Natalie's eyes landed on Dean, who was gesturing at Death, signaling for her to start talking.

Natalie furrowed her brows and gave a quick shake of the head, mouthing "Why me?". It was only met with Dean giving her another gesture to talk. Natalie answered this by rolling her eyes before taking a few hesitant steps towards Death.

"Um..."

"Save it, Natalie." Death spoke up, placing the cup back down on the table. Natalie's mouth immediately closed and her lips formed into a thin line. "You should know that I am not someone you can just summon to fix up messes that you make."

"I know." Natalie quickly spoke. "And I get that you're probably fed up with us coming to you for favors, but you should know that we wouldn't do this if we had no choice."

Death wiped with mouth with a napkin. "And to think, pulling Sam's soul out of the cage, that was a huge favor I did for you, after you failed at the deal."

"Yeah, you're right. That was a huge favor you did for all of us. And I know, that this is asking a lot of you, but, you have to be able to give us something that could help."

Death finished wiping his mouth with the napkin and then looked up at her. "Why should I help you though?"

Natalie hesitated for a moment. "Maybe, there's just a small shred of decency in you and perhaps, maybe, mercy. There's just no other options for us to use and trust me, if there was, then we wouldn't have summoned you. So, please, is there anything that you can give us?"

Death kept his eyes on Natalie and, normally, she would uncomfortable or intimidated by his staring. But, Natalie had spent time with Death that no one else has and she was able to gain a little bit more of an understanding of him. And perhaps, it helped her not to be as cautious of him as she was before the whole deal went down.

"Okay." Death took his cane and stood up from the seat. "There is one thing that you can do. The only hope you have is to get him to return all the souls back to Purgatory. As quick as you can. To open up the door again, everything you need is back at the lab."

"How exactly are we going to get Cas to agree to do this?" Natalie asked.

"That, you will need to figure out on your own."

"But, the door opens in the eclipse and that's over." Bobby reminded.

"I'll make another. 3:59 Sunday morning, just before dawn. Be quick." Death looked back over at Natalie. "And don't thank me. Clean up your mess."

Natalie nodded silently, allowing Death a clear path for him to walk by so that he could make his exit.

"And Natalie..." Both Death and Natalie turned to each other at the same time. "Remember. Eyes peeled and be alert."

Natalie furrowed her brows at him, but the rest of the message was read through his eyes and Natalie could feel a breath hitch in her throat. He was giving her another addition to his warning he had given to her already. Natalie watched Death walk out of the room and her eyes closed, a heavy sigh escaping.

Looking over at Dean, she shook her head. "Eyes peeled. Just add it onto his warning."

* * *

The car ride back to Bobby's was quiet. No one tried to start a conversation. Although, Sam could tell that Natalie was purposefully avoiding trying to talk with him. She was pissed and he knew why. In fact, Sam knew that Bobby and Dean were also upset with the fact that Sam would be hiding something like that from them. Hallucinations? He was keeping that from them, after Natalie had asked him to promise he would speak up if something started happening.

Still, maybe avoiding Sam was a little to much, but Natalie was upset and she had every right to be. She didn't know if it was directed more towards the fact that Sam lied and kept this from her, or the fact that something was going wrong with Sam. Most likely, it was a combination of both. Either way, she was taking it out on Sam in her own way and a part of her did feel guilty about it. Sam was still recovering from having his wall tore down and Natalie was giving him the silent treatment, perhaps one of the most childish ways she could approach this.

Once they reached the house, Natalie immediately retreated upstairs, spent most of the time talking with Jake, seeing what else he was able to give her about Castiel's whereabouts since they last saw him. It was her own way of not having to confront Sam just yet. She wanted to be able to have her own time to cool off before she went rattling off on Sam, which she didn't want to happen.

Sam wasn't going to let Natalie stay cooped up in that room for any longer. He already heard what Dean had to say about his hallucinations. Dean said exactly what Sam knew he would. That he should've said something and to not keep something like that from them. Sam could only surmise that, that was exactly what Natalie was going to say to him. Sam and Natalie had just started to actually push themselves onto a road that no longer involves awkward silences or short conversations between them. Sam wasn't going to let that slip away.

Natalie pulled her knees up to her chest, her eyes staring down at her phone, which was sitting in front of her on the bed. Jake had sent Natalie a message about a campaign office and all of the volunteers were brutally slaughtered just a few hours ago.

All the while, processing this information, her mind was now buzzing with Death's words. Again, more with this damn warning that he had given to her before. If anything, the only thing that Death managed to do was make her feel more paranoid. Perhaps, he did know what was going to happen, but he just wanted to mess with her. Yet, both he and Tessa said that he had no idea what was going to happen. Natalie was at a frustrating stand still. The more she thought about it, Natalie wished that Death had no said anything to her. Her mind would be in a lot more ease if he had just kept his mouth shut.

Natalie rested her forehead to her knees and blew out a sigh. _Whatever happened to just the simplicity of hunting monsters. Before we had to worry about an Apocalypse or this whole mess with Cas. _Natalie thought bitterly to herself. Perhaps "simple" was too strong of a word to use in this field, but really, whenever Natalie could look back on it, there was a level of how simple things went down. Now, when she thinks about Castiel, what he did and the whole situation of getting Sam's soul back, it was all complicated.

A small knock on the door stirred Natalie out from her thoughts and she looked up, seeing Sam standing in the doorway. Natalie felt her gaze lower and moved back over to the phone.

"Cas just wiped out an entire campaign office a few hours ago." She informed, her voice sounded so small to Sam.

"Yeah. Dean and I watched a clip on some news website." Sam answered.

"Well, when are we going to head out. We have to get Cas there on time."

"Dean, said that we're not going."

Natalie snapped her gaze up. "Why? This is our only chance of stopping him."

Sam shrugged. "Dean doesn't think we'll be able to convince Cas to let the souls back in Purgatory."

"Well, then we just wasted that time with Death for nothing." Natalie scoffed as she stood up from the bed and turned to look out the bedroom window.

"Are we not going to talk about it?" Sam suddenly questioned.

"About what?" Natalie asked.

"Nad, I know you're upset with me..."

"Upset?" Natalie snapped as she turned to look at him. "You promised me that you would tell me if something started to come up. You _promised_. And then you just lied to my face."

"Nad, please, just listen to me. I didn't want you to know..."

"Why? Because you wanted to keep it to yourself and handle it on your own, is that what you were going to say?"

"You and Dean, you all had a lot to deal with. Other priorities...and I didn't want to add onto the heap."

"Sam. You are the number one priority. Yeah, Cas is something that we need to take care of, but you are the main concern. You can't just shut us out like that."

"I know and I'm sorry. But, Nad, it's fine. I can tell what's real and what's not real."

"Sam that's not the point." Natalie pressed her hands up to her face, groaning in frustration. Her hands moved away from her face. "You may think that you have a grip on reality, that you can tell what's real. But, Sam, who knows where you're going to be in a few weeks or in a month. This could get worse...so much worse. That's why I need you to tell us if something is wrong. You can't be playing fast and loose with this right now. Please, don't keep something like this from us...not anymore."

"Nad..."

"No, Sam. This is not up for debate. No more, alright? Just, please, will you actually promise me this time...that you will speak up if it gets worse."

"And, what if I don't?" Sam lightly challenged.

Natalie raised her brows and scoffed at Sam's question. "Really? Is that the card you're going to be playing right now?" Natalie huffed out a breath. "Well, then fine. Do what you want."

Natalie placed her phone in her pocket and began to walk out of the room when Sam's arm stopped her. Natalie kept her gaze forward, not giving Sam the benefit of her looking at him. From the corner of her eye, Natalie could see Sam turned to her, keeping his arm out in front of her.

"You seriously think I would do that?"

"You've already done something like it..." Natalie quietly answered and gently pushed his arm out of the way, but remained next to him.

"I already told you why I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, I know." Natalie finally turned to look at him. "And I'm to stubborn to accept it. We just want to help you, Sam."

"You can't Nad."

"Since when has that ever stopped us from trying?" Natalie walked out into the hallway and stopped to turn back to Sam. "You know what, I'm not gonna ask you to promise me this time, because I know you'll just avoid it. But, you should know that if it gets worse...you need to say something."

"We don't know if it's going to get worse, Nad. For all we know, it could just be temporary thing."

Natalie hummed to herself. "Yeah, maybe." She answered, not sounding convinced. "I don't think this is the case Sam. Just please, speak up, because if it does get bad...we might have to go through with almost losing you again...and I am _not _going to go through that...not anymore. So, can you at least spare us that kind of torment?"

Natalie didn't wait for Sam to reply, instead, she turned back around and made her way down the hall and to the stairs. Reaching the bottom of the steps, she turned and made her way into the kitchen and pulled her phone back out of her pocket.

"Natalie."

A sudden voice made Natalie jumped and turn to see Castiel, bloody, standing against the kitchen threshold.

"Cas?" Her brows furrowed at his condition, which has worsened since she last saw him.

"Sam...he prayed to me...I heard him."

Natalie stood frozen for a brief moment, then placed her phone back in her pocket and took a few cautious steps towards him. "Okay."

"I need help."

Natalie looked around the room, pondering and then pursed her lips together before looking back at Castiel. "Okay...maybe you just need sit down for a little bit...we'll get ready to go to the lab..."

Natalie reached her hand out for him to take a hold of her arm as support. Castiel moved his right arm towards hers, his hand taking a weak hold on her arm. As he stepped away from the wall, his legs gave out and Natalie quickly wrapped her arms around him, keeping him up.

"Sam! Sam! Get down here!"

* * *

"We need to make sure that the area is clear." Castiel said as Sam gently lowered him down to the ground, his back resting against one of the lab cabinets.

Natalie and Dean both quickly went to work with moving the various tables away from the wall they would use to open the door. During all of the hustle that was going on in that lab, Natalie vaguely saw Sam leaving the room, apparently to go and get the blood that they needed for the spell.

Turning to the wall, Natalie grabbed the last table and began to move it towards the opposite part of the room. Resting it near the wall, Natalie stood in place as she could hear a part of Dean and Castiel's conversation.

_"If there was time, if I was strong enough, I'd fix him. But, I just wanted to make amends." _

_"Okay." _

_"Is it working?"_

_"Does it make you feel any better?" _

_"No. You?"_

_"Not one bit." _

Natalie looked down at the contents on the table and sighed. Castiel screwed up, big time and she knew this. But, her time of being truly pissed at him had now waned. She only felt frustration at the situation that has been created since that night. If he had just listened to them, none of this wouldn't have happened.

Now, Natalie felt somewhat...sympathetic towards Castiel and it honestly confused her. After what he did to Sam, Natalie felt that she could never really forgive Castiel and really she might not be able to. But, Natalie knows what it's like to get pulled into something that wasn't exactly right. Granted, Natalie and Castiel were never on the same line, but, Natalie did things that she regrets immensely. Castiel was just, unfortunately, sucked into the whirlwind that hit him at a time of weakness. He was desperate.

It wasn't as if Castiel was going into this totally blind. He knew that there were risks to opening Purgatory, but he _was _blind by how out of control everything would turn out. He was like a child, being told by the parent not to do something and in an act of defiance and rebellion, did it anyway and now he suffers from the consequences. But, this was not like a little kid being punished after layering the TV screen with glue. This was something so much bigger than every single person who was in this room.

Natalie finally relented and turned to look at Castiel. The amount of guilt that was written all over his face was Natalie's answer. His actions won't be something that she will forget and maybe, down the road, she might learn to forgive him. But, right now, Natalie just wanted to help him. Get those souls back to Purgatory and they'll deal with whatever happens after that.

Natalie turned her attention over at Bobby, who was looking out of the lab window and then down at his watch. Turning around, he walked over to Castiel and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Just hang in there Cas. Just a few more minutes."

Natalie's eyes followed Bobby as he went and stood next to Dean, both of them descending into a conversation she couldn't hear.

"Natalie." Castiel's voice is what caught her attention and she quickly looked down at him.

Stepping away from the table, Natalie walked over and knelt down next to him. "You need me to do something?"

"No." Castiel shook his head, weakly. "I wanted to tell you something..."

Natalie nodded for him to continue.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I truly am. And I know it won't be easy, but I do hope that you and the others will understand."

Natalie pursed her lips together and slowly nodded her head. "A lot has happened, Cas. Let's just focus on helping you and then we'll work on apologizes. Okay?"

"You probably are curious about...Caden."

Natalie's face froze at the mention of the angel. "Yeah, I am. This is probably an inappropriate time to ask but...can you at least tell me if he's alright?"

Castiel's face scrunched up as he braced his arm against his stomach and let out a groan. At this, Natalie reached out and gently held onto his arm. "He's...he's not alright."

"That's what I was afraid of." Natalie admitted.

"Okay, Cas." Bobby walked back over to them. "It's show time."

Natalie sighed and gave Castiel a quick squeeze on his arm. "Okay, Cas. Here we go."

Natalie and Bobby both took hold of Castiel's arms and gently lifted him up to his feet. Slowly, they guided him over to the wall, where Dean had just finished drawing out the sigil, and positioned him just a couple of feet away from it. Bobby was the first to step away, though Natalie kept her hold on him just a little bit longer, making sure that he would be able to support himself.

Natalie slowly released her hold on him and took her time in stepping back towards Dean and Bobby. Natalie took a moment and looked around, seeing that Sam wasn't in the room with them.

"Where's Sam?" Natalie whispered to Dean.

"I didn't find him. I don't know where he is." Dean answered quickly.

"Maybe, I should go find him."

"Just, wait a minute, Nad."

Natalie sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, her mind now buzzing with where Sam could possibly be. Her thoughts took over until she could no longer hear Bobby performing the incantation. Natalie was brought out of her thoughts when the wall began to crack open, the black hole sucking in air. A bright stream of light shot out from the opening, engulfing Castiel, bright enough to where Natalie, Bobby and Dean had to shield their eyes from it.

"Creaturae terrificae quarum ungulae et dentes nunquam tetigerunt carnem eius ad mundum nostrum nunc ianua magna, aperta tandem."

Bobby finished the incantation, his eyes closed to a squint at the brightness and as quick as it appeared, the stream of light retreated back into the opening and the hole closed up and Castiel quickly fell to the floor.

"Cas?" Dean quickly rushed over and knelt down by Castiel's limp form. Bobby and Natalie follow quickly in suit.

Bobby knelt down on the other side and pressed his hand against the side of Castiel's face, allowing the three of them to simmer in a tense silence.

"Is he alright?" Dean finally asked.

Bobby shook his head. "He's cold."

"Is he at least breathing?" Natalie decided to ask.

"No." Bobby replied.

"Maybe angels don't need to breathe." Dean timidly offered, earning a soft gaze from Bobby.

"He's gone, Dean."

Natalie washed a hand down the side of her face, letting out a heavy sigh. "Damn it, Cas, you child." Dean quietly chastised as he stood back up to his feet.

The abrasions and injuries on Castiel's face slowly healed and his eyes fluttered open, which prompted Natalie to throw a quick, light hit against Dean's arm, causing him to look back down at Castiel, who sucked in a deep breath.

"Hey! Cas, you alright?" Dean bent down and helped pull him back up to his feet.

"That was unpleasant." Castiel commented as he took a quick sweep of himself. "I'm alive."

"It sure does look like it." Bobby replied, a small relieved smile crossed his face.

"I'm actually quite astonished." Castiel answered as he looked up at them. "Thank you. All of you, for what you did. And I promise that I will find a way to redeem myself to you."

"Alright, Cas." Dean reached forward and took hold of Castiel's arm. "Let's just get you out of here." Dean paused and turned to Natalie. "Nad, can you go find Sam?"

Natalie nodded silently, before turning around and walked towards the lab door. Before she could barely make it to the door, Castiel's cry stopped Natalie dead in her tracks and she turned back around, sharply, seeing Castiel doubled over, his hand on one of the lab tables.

Natalie walked closer to Dean, her wide eyes glued on Castiel's body making jerking and spastic movements.

"You need to run now! I can't hold them back!"

"Hold who back?" Dean asked quickly, watching as Castiel's body jerked, trying his absolute best to keep control of them.

"They held inside me...the Leviathan! You need to run!"

Dean reached for Natalie's hand that was gripping on his arm and then turned to her. "Nad, you need to go find Sam. Right now, okay, go!" Dean said, gently pushing for Natalie to leave.

Finally able to grasp Dean's words, which had been difficult since she was to caught up with what was going on with Castiel, Natalie finally nodded and ran out of the lab. Her heels clicked furiously against the cement ground, the noise bouncing off the walls. When she came to the end of the hallway, she immediately turned left, knowing that's way she needed to take to get to the storage room, which was where Castiel had sent Sam.

In the short distance it took, Natalie stopped at the opening of the storage room, her hand resting against the metal threshold. She glanced around the immediate area in front of her, before stepping fully into the room.

"Sam?" Her voice reverberated off the walls. She walked towards the back of the room, where a row of shelves began to go left and she followed it, finding nothing there. _Where else could he have gone? _

Natalie turned around and walked out of the room, pausing in the middle of the hallway, she looked left and then right. Thinking that he could've taking either way, but randomly, she decided to go right again, knowing there were other rooms down the hall.

She broke out into a run again, her chest heaving with heavy, painful breaths and made it feel like her throat was burning. Several doors were coming up on the right side and she would pull on the handle, finding that each one was locked. Finally, she reached a door that was open and when she stopped at it, looking in, Natalie saw Sam standing against a wall.

Her brows furrowed as she took a quick check down the hall, to make sure that Castiel hadn't come after her. Then, Natalie took a few cautious steps into the room, feeling herself grow worried from Sam's expression. He looked terrified and she could only surmise that he must be suffering from another hallucination.

Natalie stood right in front of Sam, but he didn't even notice she was there. He just kept on shaking his head, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing in his case.

"Sam?" Natalie took slow steps towards him, making sure that she didn't do anything to startled him. "Sam?" She asked again, but this time she reached her arm out and pressed her hand against his cheek.

Sam reacted immediately, flinching at her touch and his hand flew out, pressing against her shoulder as if he was trying to push her away. Natalie couldn't help but gasp in surprise. The amount of force that went into it was what surprised her.

"Sam." Natalie moved closer and framed his face with both her hands, forcing his eyes to look at her.

Sam paused, his eyes blinked a couple of times as he took in his surroundings. A look of confusion etched into his face as he didn't remember coming to this room.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asked. Sam, as he tried to reorient himself, reached up and took Natalie's hand into his grasp, pulling it away from his face. He had remembered how this simple touch had helped him back at Bobby's, during one of Lucifer's verbal torments. He was using it as the basis for his reality.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine..."

"Really? I don't think you are." Natalie answered. But, Sam didn't answer her, he was to confused and delirious about his hallucination, he couldn't exactly think straight.

"Where's Cas?"

Natalie pursed her lips, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. "I don't think it's good Sam. Something happened."

"What?"

"Come on." Natalie tugged him forward by the shoulder, making sure that her hand never left his. "Let's just get you out of here."

* * *

**Okay, so how did you all like it? I'll admit, I was not to fond of this chapter, which really sucks since this is the first chapter in the new story, but, I'm just glad that I was able to get it done! So, until next time!**


	2. My Doctor's A Monster

_A/N: Here is the next chapter for you all and I hope you all will enjoy it. I am so sorry that it took so long for me to finish it, I've had the worst writer's block. But, now it's done! Just to let you know, the next chapter will basically be a Sam/Nad chapter, so I think you all will enjoy that! (and something special will happen!) _

_For now on, when I answer reviews, they will be at the author's note at the end._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural_

* * *

Natalie's head popped up at the sound of the front door being slammed shut. With her hair in a mess, most of it draping down her face, she took a tired survey of the room and then blew at the strands of hair that were now tickling her nose. Looking down at the bed, she saw that she was currently lying on her stomach with her right arm nestled, painfully, underneath her. Reaching for her phone, Natalie quickly checked the time and groaned at the fact that it was one in the afternoon. She slept in again. Well, she couldn't really complain. Natalie wasn't getting the best sleep for the past day or so. Ever since Castiel went missing and the Leviathans got loose, it was like everything seemed to be out of sync.

There was a huge distortion in the daily routine that Natalie and the others have followed. All of them were restless, sleep patterns were abnormal, especially with Sam, who was sleeping through whole days, without waking up. Much like when his wall first broke and he passed out. Whenever one was awake, they would walk around the house, effectively waking up only one other. Natalie could notice a slight change in all of them, especially Dean. He was quiet, not wanting to carry on conversations and not wanting to do much of anything.

Natalie had been debating when it would be a good time to bring up the possibility of trying to ease themselves into a job. Something easy and one that would be simple for Sam to handle. But, every time she would get some kind of confidence, she would go against it. Natalie concluded that if something sparked her interest in a potential job, she would notify Dean about it. As for right now, hunting was currently a secondary thing.

Throwing the covers off of her body, Natalie moved her legs over the edge and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She hissed immediately at the numbness in her right arm. That's what she gets for sleeping on it all night. Natalie slid off the bed, making sure to grab her phone in the process and stumbled her way towards the door, lazily opened it and walked out into the hallway, taking the staircase in slow steps.

Reaching the bottom, she turned immediately into the kitchen where Bobby was doing something she couldn't quite make out since her vision was still a little hazy.

"Mornin'." Bobby's singular phrase made Natalie jump, since she was not expecting his voice to be so loud, though really it wasn't.

"Hi." She tiredly replied, washing a hand down her face. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"I thought that I would give you some more time...you haven't exactly been sleeping well lately."

Natalie only hummed at Bobby's reasoning and looked over into the living room, where Dean was looking over Sam's hand. "How's he doing?"

Bobby paused and looked back at Sam. "Not sure. Dean just woke him up. Here." Bobby turned to Natalie and handed her a roll of gauze. "Why don't you put on some new bandages for him?"

Natalie limply took the roll and nodded before walking into the room. She didn't utter a word to Dean, since she still felt a little sleep buzzed, and pulled up a chair in front of Sam and sat down. She didn't even look up at him. Natalie just gestured for Sam's hand and he willingly offered it to her.

Turning his hand over, so that it was palm side up, she began to gently wrap the bandages around his palm. Barely into the action, Natalie finally looked up at Sam, who was switching his gaze from his palm to her. When their eyes actually met, Natalie couldn't see anything from him. He looked so lost in whatever he was dealing with, mentally. That little episode he had back at the lab, it was constantly poking at Natalie. It was an hallucination, there was no doubt in Natalie's mind. But, the seriousness of it, the fact that Sam didn't even know she was there until she was touching him, it made her think about how far would these go. To the point where they had absolute control over him? Possibly, but, it was a thought Natalie didn't dwell on for too long.

"So, have we got any leads?" Sam asked once Bobby walked in.

"I made a few calls, told everyone to keep an eye out...and so far, we've got nothing. But, that's not to say that something won't turn up."

Natalie kept quiet as she finished up wrapping Sam's hand and settled back in her chair. "Did you call..."

"David? Yes, I did. Said he's going to get a few people on the look out as well. With how many of those things that are out there, it's not gonna be possible to miss something."

Natalie stood up and pulled the chair along and set it back next to the desk, before leaning against it. Natalie along with Bobby and Dean, both kept their gazes on Sam, who was to busy rubbing at his palm.

"Sam."

Sam paused his rubbing and slowly looked up, seeing that he was under the intense staring from the three of them. "What?"

"How are you doing?" Dean asked with a shrug. "And don't say that you're okay."

Sam limply shrugged. "I'm not okay."

Dean scoffed lightly and raised his brow. "You think?"

"Dean." Natalie warned as she looked over at him. "Just be easy right now."

Dean motioned over at Sam. "This...this doesn't call for easy actions, Nad. He told us that he would be able to handle it...now look at where he is."

"I get that, Dean. But, maybe you should just go at this with a little bit more of a calm approach instead of just pelting him with questions." Natalie offered.

"Look, I get it. You all are worried about me and I know that I didn't exactly handle it the way I've been leading you all to believe." Sam finally admitted.

"Then let's just start small." Natalie offered. "When I found you that in room, what was happening? It was like you were in some sort of trance, you didn't even know I was there until I had my hand on your shoulder and you flipped out on me."

"I know." Sam shook his head at the memory of seeing Natalie's confused and scared expression. "It's not just quick flashbacks anymore...now, it's gotten a lot more complicated than that...more specific."

Natalie nodded and then shrugged her shoulders. "How specific are we talking about?"

"I'm starting to see through the cracks and it's making it more difficult to separate what's real and what isn't. The hallucinations are, essentially, getting worse."

"Getting worse? Well, if you are tripping even harder right now, why would keep that from us?" Dean asked.

"I wasn't trying to hide anything from you all, I just didn't want to dump it all out on you three. With everything that was going on, I figured that I would just ride through and maybe, it would help itself. But, it's becoming a lot more clear about what these are about."

"How clear?" Dean asked.

Sam paused and let out a strained sigh as he focused his attention back down to his wrapped palm. The hesitation that was pouring from him was thick and Natalie could see a sense of dread mingling in with it.

"Lucifer."

Sam's mundane answer caused the entire room to grow quiet, even though it already was. Natalie's eyes fixed on Sam, her entire frozen from just hearing that name, the one thing that has been tormenting Sam, was him.

"He's been popping up. At first, it was just on occasion, usually when I was alone or trying to talk with one of you." Sam gestured to the three of them. "Now. He's here constantly."

"Okay." Natalie breathed, which made Bobby and Dean both turn to her. "So, Lucifer is the basis of these hallucinations, what exactly does he do? Or what does he say to you?"

"He tells me that everything around me is not real...that I'm actually still in the cage with him and I have been this whole time."

"Wait, so the devil holodecks you all of this...make you think that you're out when he could just kick your ass all over the cage. Why?" Dean asked.

"Because...he puts it as, you can't torture someone who has nothing left for you to take away."

_"Very good Sam." _

Sam casted a quick glance to the side at Lucifer's praise and this was noticed by Natalie, who only watched the moment silently.

"Okay, but, he makes you think that you're out of the cage to live in this post-apocalyptic mess?"

_"It had to be a mess Sam, or you wouldn't believe it was your life." _

Sam turned his attention back over to the previous empty space, his eyes setting on an invisible sight, that Dean, Natalie and Bobby could not detect. Nevertheless, they gazes were attracted towards the spot Sam was currently staring at.

"Sam?" Dean spoke up, waiting for his brother to look at him. "Are you seeing him right now?"

Sam answered with only a meager nod.

"You know that he's not real, right?" Dean assured him.

Sam looked back over to Lucifer, who simply raised his arms at him causing Sam to look back over at Dean. "He's says the same thing about all of you."

The room remained quiet and the silence was thick, but for Sam, all he could hear was Lucifer taunting in his ear. Sam slowly closed his hands into fists, his jaw clenched down, trying his absolute best to try and shut out Lucifer's voice and kept his focus on the others.

Dean finally turned to look at Bobby, who seemed almost just as lost and surprised about all of this as he was.

"Well." Bobby finally spoke. "I'm gonna go and try to keep myself occupied."

"I guess, I'll..." Dean looked around and then began to take the same path that Bobby had taken. "Try and occupy myself as well." Dean walked passed Natalie, giving her shoulder a quick reassuring squeeze.

Natalie and Sam both remained silent and she finally looked over at him. He was no longer looking at her and, instead, was trying to build up some kind of fortitude to help block out this constant bantering and taunting from Lucifer. But, Sam could feel Natalie's eyes baring down on him and he finally allowed himself to look up at her. She seemed upset, but was it with him? Sam wouldn't be surprised. Considering that he never told them how serious it had actually become, to the point that he was having a hard time differentiating what was real and what was fake.

"You're pissed." Sam finally said.

This made Natalie furrow her brows at him. "Why would I be pissed?"

"Because I didn't tell you guys that it was getting worse...a lot worse."

Natalie sighed. Pushing herself away from the table, she sauntered over to the couch and sat down next to Sam, her hands folding together in her lap. "I'm not pissed. I think I'm beyond that point." She said, looking up at him she could see Sam slowly nodding his head.

"I'm just upset that you even have to be going through this...that wall was never supposed to come down. You shouldn't even be in this situation."

"But, I am." Sam interrupted. "That's something we can't change."

Natalie nodded. "Though, I wish there was a way to just fix it. If Caden was here...actually, I don't even know if he would be able to help."

"I'll get by it...somehow."

Natalie let out a brief scoff. "It's gotten so bad that you're having trouble knowing what's real...sorry for being a little downer, but, to me, that doesn't show that you will get by it."

"What...so you don't have any kind of hope that I can deal with it?" Sam asked, looking over at her.

Natalie, at first, was lost for words. It wasn't so much about the idea of him struggling to get by, but Natalie was just...scared. "I'm scared Sam...that's the truth. I'm scared because we have no idea how worse this can get and what it can do to you..."

_"Aww. Little Natalie is scared...she cares so much for you Sam. Don't let your own stubborn denial force you to lose her."_

Sam pursed his lips together and reached for one of Natalie's hands. He held it in a firm grip, his thumb brushing over the top of her hand.

"Please, Sam." Natalie continued, her hand giving a quick squeeze. "This has already gone far enough. It's already bad enough that you're seeing...him, but, we can't let this get any worse. So, you need to let us know. That way...we can try to know what to expect."

Sam only nodded.

"No. No don't do that." Natalie quickly said, her hand pulled away from his grasp. "Don't just nod your head at this...I'm serious Sam."

_"Oh wow, she really is a feisty one. Sure you can handle her Sam?" _

Sam shook his head at Lucifer's words, but Natalie mistook it for him not agreeing with her, which she only huffed at.

"I shouldn't even be asking you this." Natalie said. "I mean I know how you are, you're gonna keep it to yourself, until you are literally to deep to be pulled out."

"I have my way of trying to keep myself on track." Sam finally spoke up.

"What is it?" Natalie asked, looking over at him.

Sam went quiet as he thought back to when Lucifer first started appearing and how Natalie's touch would somehow bring some kind of stability for his broken mind. He should've said it, but his stubbornness got the better of him.

"If I can focus on something that keeps me grounded...then it should help me have somewhat of a clear mind...and maybe it will help me know what's real."

"But, it's not a definite solution for you." Natalie added, which Sam only sighed at. "I know. I'm being a real pain right now." She admitted.

"It's the only thing that I have right now." Sam said.

"Yeah." Natalie stood up from the couch. "Well, all I'm going to say is that I trust that you'll tell us if it gets worse."

Sam quietly nodded, keeping his gaze off of her. "That sounds fine with me."

Natalie pursed her lips, a little bothered by the fact that he was avoiding looking at her. She hated when people did that. No eye contact when she spoke to someone, it irked her. But, right now, she wasn't in the mood to put up an argument about that. "Okay, well I'm going to get some groceries. Bobby is running low on a few things."

Sam looked down at his bandaged hand. "Okay."

* * *

Natalie closed the car door, her hands full of bags from the store as she made her way up to the front porch, her phone began to go off. Natalie stopped and sighed as she transferred the bags to one hand and used her free one to pull out the device and answered the call.

"Hey, Jake, what's up?"

_"Have you heard about what happened up in Kansas?" _

Natalie gave a slight eye roll, even though Jake wouldn't see it. "No. I've been out for a while. Why, what happened?"

_"A high school swim team got completely butchered in the locker room." _

"Swim team?" Natalie repeated as she made it up to the front door. "Did you manage to get anything else on the event?"

_"From what my dad and I were able to gather, police described it as like an animal attack. They said and I quote, whatever attacked them was the size of a linebacker." _

Natalie hummed in her own amusement at the words used to describe the attack. "Sounds a little strange to me. The police have no leads?"

_"No. They have absolutely no leads so far. I thought it would be something that you should know about." _

"Yeah. Thanks for telling me Jake. I guess keep me updated if you find out anything else."

_"Will do." _

Natalie pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call before sliding the phone back into her pocket. Still using her free hand, Natalie turned the door knob and walked in, closing the door with her foot.

Walking into the kitchen, setting the bags down on the table, she looked over and saw that Sam was sitting at Bobby's desk, messing around with his gun and a timer was sitting in front of him.

"You're timing yourself?" Natalie asked as she began to put the groceries into the refrigerator.

"Just seeing if I can still keep up with it." Sam replied. "And I'm not really happy with the time I've been getting so far."

"Well, go easy on yourself. You're still recovering from an almost total mind collapse. You're not going to be spot on with everything." Natalie added, casting a quick glance towards Sam before putting away the rest of the groceries.

"Still doesn't mean I can't try. Plus, it's helping occupy my time."

"If you say so." Natalie breathed out. Picking up the bags, she quickly disposed of them and looked up briefly as Dean walked in through the front door and made his way into the kitchen. Only then did Natalie's memory spark.

"Hey." Natalie turned back around to see Sam and Dean looking over at her. "So, I think I might've found a job."

"What is it?" Dean asked as he opened up a bottle of beer.

"Jake called me and said that up in Kansas an entire high school swim team got completely butchered in the locker room."

Dean made a face. "Damn."

"Yeah. Police said that a wild animal the size of a linebacker might be the cause of the attack." Natalie added with her own little scoff. "A wild animal that big can get inside a locker room?"

"It needs to be checked out...you know just in case." Sam spoke up.

Natalie and Dean both paused to look over at him, their eyes showing Sam that they weren't really comfortable with him going out just yet.

"Maybe it would be best if you just stayed here on this one." Dean commented.

Sam nodded, not putting up an argument. "No, I know. I mean you guys go and check it out. It has to be something."

Dean was caught off guard for a moment. He was fully prepared to argue with Sam, to get him to stay here. Now, he wouldn't have to do that, which is nice, since it would spare Dean the headache he would get from it later.

"Okay, then." Dean stood up and took another drink from his beer. "I'll go check it out. Uh..." Dean paused and turned to Natalie. "Why don't you stay with Sam? Just in case, you know...keep an eye on him."

Natalie pursed her lips and looked over at Sam, then quickly nodded her head. "Yeah. Sure."

Dean nodded and looked back at Sam. "I'll call you guys when I get there."

Natalie watched silently as Dean left the kitchen and exited through the front door. After a brief moment, she turned her attention back towards Sam, who was staring at her, not enough to make her uncomfortable. Instead, Natalie gave him a quick smile. "How are you feeling?"

"It hasn't been that long since you last asked me that." Sam remarked.

Natalie let out a faint laugh. "Just humor me then."

"I'm fine. Not one hundred percent, but, I'm fine."

Sam only gave a quick nod at Natalie and then his expression switched. His brows furrowed and his lips pursed, it was the same look Natalie recognized as Sam's "thinking" expression. Something was clearly on his mind and it made her incredibly curious.

"Are you okay?" Natalie asked again, which seemed to take Sam out of his mind loop for a little bit.

"Actually...there's something that I think we should talk about now."

Natalie's face soften as she blinked a couple of times, which showed Sam she was a little off track with where he was going at.

Sam saw this and let out a quick sigh. "About...us."

As her body immediately tensed, Natalie allowed her gaze to fall, remembering that this was still something in the works. Natalie had been so caught up with just worrying about Sam these past few days. There wasn't any time for her to think about their overly, complicated relationship.

Surprised at herself, Natalie simply nodded and took a seat down at the kitchen table, which signaled for Sam to do the same. By the look on Sam's face, Natalie could see that he was trying to form what he should say in his mind already, making sure to remind himself to take careful handling of the situation.

"Are you sure that that you'll be able to..."

Sam gave her a quick nod. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry."

_"Oh. This is going to be interesting to watch." _Lucifer gleefully admitted as he went and leaned against the counter behind Natalie.

Sam looked up at him for only a brief moment before focusing his attention back on Natalie. "I know that it may not have seemed like it, but I thought about it...a lot."

"And I told you to take however much time you needed." Natalie added.

"I know and really, thank you for not...pressing the matter. Even though, it got a little..."

"Awkward." Natalie finished when Sam grew quiet. "Yeah, that's my fault."

Sam furrowed his brows. "How is that your fault? I'm just as much to blame for that."

"No." Natalie turned fully towards the table and leaned her elbows down on the top. "I shouldn't have even told you...that day in Fort Collins. I was delirious and recovering from being poisoned. I wasn't supposed to tell you...at least not at that moment."

"Okay." Sam mimicked Natalie's movement and leaned forward on the table. "If you hadn't told me then...when would you have?"

Natalie looked up at Sam, the curious questioning in his eyes rendered her speechless. Honestly, she didn't even know. "I..." Natalie shook her head. "I don't know. If you want the truth. I probably would not have ever told you."

Sam expression contorted into confusion.

Despite this, Natalie continued. "I know that you told me...you haven't had the best experience with women...you're not the only one with a harsh experience when it comes to relationships."

At this, Sam could feel something in him drop. Natalie looked somber and haunted by whatever memory she was hinting at and it brought to light about what she told him back at the hotel. The whole "meaningless sex" mentioning was something that bugged Sam to no end.

"What happened, Nad?"

"I was just being a stupid girl. That's the story." Natalie quickly replied. And her tone made Sam realize that he shouldn't press the matter any further. "But, I understand why any future relationships might be something you try to avoid." Natalie added, hoping to steer away from the subject of her past relationship.

Sam slowly nodded, agreeing to go on with the talk. "Thinking about it...what was going on between you and me, it made me think back on all my experiences. And how, pretty much every single one of them, ended on a really bad note."

"I get it." Natalie interrupted. "You've been through to much. You don't want to go through that again."

"I guess it's the whole idea of loss. Having someone that I care about and would do anything for. Keeping them close and to only have them ripped away...I've seen it to much and I just...don't want to go through that again. That's why I'm used to rejecting the idea of relationships, because I always know how they're going to end."

"You know, keeping that kind of mindset, can really hurt you in the end. Trust me. I thought the exact same way when my relationship ended...but, I learned to grow out of it."

Sam's lips curled into a small smile. "I take it that's a good thing."

"Yeah." Natalie answered. "Listen, I get it. In this job, you can't afford to allow yourself to be happy, because how can you? We hunt monsters, demons, we've even had our own little battles with angels, the people we love always get caught in the crossfires. You and Dean, probably experienced that more than me. I've lost a lot of people that I love...and it's made me cautious about who I let myself get close to. That's why, you, Dean, Bobby, Aunt Clara, Mari...I hold you all so close to me and I would do anything to make sure that I don't lose any of you. So if, we need to end this, because you don't want to put yourself through that then...say so."

"It's not that simple Nad. I really want to have that with you, I do...it's just this life, it doesn't give us any kind of room to have true normalcy. Even something as simple as getting into a relationship can be a rare thing. I sometimes think that if I can't have a normal life with someone, why even try?"

Natalie bit down on her lip and nodded. "I don't expect to have a normal life with you. Sam, I know that's not possible for me or for you. I'm not thinking about the typical American dream. You know, the white picket fence, the dog, a family...that's no longer in the cards for me. And I've accepted that. But, with my experiences, does that mean that I will deny myself the possibility of having a relationship with someone...that I love? No, it doesn't."

Sam could feel himself smile faintly at hearing her saying that word that had been lacking for him. It wasn't the kind of love that he shared with his brother or Bobby. It was something that he had experienced while he was at Stanford. The last time someone said those words to him with a more meaningful affection, was Jess. After that, it ceased to really exist for Sam.

"I just don't want to do anything to hurt you."

Natalie pursed her lips together and cupped her hands together. "You would never do anything to hurt me Sam. Remember when we first met, out in Bobby's garage?"

Sam nodded.

"I never thought that these two strangers that I met by chance, would end up being two of my closest friends. Sam, you were my friend before anything else. And... " Natalie paused, thinking about how to exactly say the next phrase. "If this is going to damage that, then maybe we should just...forget the idea. You know, if us being together rids of our friendship...I'd rather keep you as a friend, then have something happen and lose you on both ends. But, it all boils down to how you feel. If you don't feel the same...then let's end it now."

Sam dropped his gaze, his hands folding together as he tried to gather his thoughts. He wanted to be with Natalie, that he knew for sure. But, his experience with Jess, Madison, hell, even Ruby, it all dealt with loss, grief and utter betrayal. Not that Natalie would do what Ruby did, but anyone Sam gets involved with always get screwed over in the end. And with how much he's grown close with Natalie, just the thought of the possibility that he _could_ lose her was almost enough to convince him to end this. That gut wrenching fear, the empty pit in his stomach that he felt to many times was creeping back up. Perhaps, maybe, just rejecting the idea of an actual relationship was the best option. It's what he has been so used to and it was easy to convince himself of it.

But, Sam knew that deep down he would not forgive himself for turning down this opportunity. The chance to actually try and have a normal aspect in his screwed up life, it was a tantalizing choice. Although, there was still that poking fear of what could happen to Natalie, if she became involved with him. But, he had to constantly remind himself that she was associated with him, even if they decided to not go forward, Natalie still had his name written all over her. He didn't want to have to live with himself knowing he was the cause of someone else's life. Jess died because of him, he never told her about what kind of life he led before moving to Stanford and Madison died at Sam's own hands. He didn't want to be responsible for the death of someone he loves. But, that was the answer that Sam needed. The question that had been nagging at him every time he looked at Natalie and when he would close his eyes at night. Did he love her? Yes, he did.

_"Oh my, it's finally happened." _

Sam slowly raised his head up at Lucifer who had the biggest smirk on his face.

_"Prince Charming over here has finally made up his mind. Honestly, I am relieved because all of that bantering going on in your head was exhausting." _

Lucifer walked away from the counter and made his way over to Natalie, leaning down until he was leveled with her.

_"This poor sap over here loves you. I already called it though so, score one for me." _Lucifer turned towards Sam at the end of his sentence, his lips sporting a pout.

"Sam?" Natalie asked, seeing the hardened expression on his face. Finally, Natalie reached over and placed her hand on top of his. "Sam."

Sam snapped his attention back towards Natalie, letting out a few breaths that he had been holding in.

"Are you okay?"

Sam allowed his mouth to fall agape, trying to form the words that he wanted so badly to say to her. But, Sam's answer was put on hold as Bobby's phone began to ring. Natalie looked over at the device and then back at Sam, hesitantly, she stood up from her seat and walked over to the phone.

"Hello?"

There was nothing but silence that met Natalie on the other end.

"Hello?" Natalie tried again.

_"Is this Natalie?" _

Natalie's brows furrowed as she turned to look at Sam, with the phone still to her ear. "Yes. Who is this?"

_"It's Jody Mills." _

Natalie remained silent, as she tried to search through her memory for any recognition of the name. Finally it clicked and her brows raised. "Sheriff Mills." At this, Sam got up from the chair and stood in front of Natalie.

_"Yeah. It's been a while hasn't it?" _

"Yeah it has." Natalie replied with a small smile. "So, uh, what's with the phone call?"

_"Is Bobby there?" _

"No, sorry. He's out right now. Not sure when he'll be back, but, I can call him and see where he's at."

_"No. No, I don't have time." _

At this, Natalie's expression turned to concern, which Sam picked up on quickly. "What's wrong?"

_"Maybe you or one of the boys can help me. But, I'm at Sioux Falls General Hospital and I think my surgeon is a monster." _

Natalie's mouth slowly fell open as one of her brows raised. "Wait, can you repeat that again?"

_"I didn't stutter." _Jody lightly commented. _"My surgeon is a freaking monster." _

"Okay." Natalie replied, drawing out the word as long as she could. "And, what exactly makes you think that he's not human?"

_"He took my roommate and he ate her liver! I followed him because there was something about him that just gave me the creeps. And when I saw him...he wasn't a surgeon...I saw it, his face and mouth it was just...it was horrible." _

Natalie silently nodded, taking in the information. "And you sure you weren't hyped up on medications that might have messed with your sight or anything like that?"

_"No. I was completely sober from any meds." _

"Just trying to make sure." Natalie assured.

_"Listen, I know you and the boys handle these kinds of things, so I was hoping you could get your ass down to Sioux Falls General before I'm served as his next course." _

Natalie looked over at Sam, seeing that he was anxious to hear what was going on and then she cleared her throat. "Um. Yeah, okay, I'll see what I can do." Natalie pulled the phone away and placed it back on the charger.

"What's going on?"

"You remember Sheriff Mills, right? When the whole, zombie epidemic thing happened here?"

"How could I forget?" Sam asked, with a slight shrug.

"Well, apparently, she's in the hospital and she's convinced that her doctor is a monster. Said that she saw him eating the liver from her hospital roommate. But, she sounded pretty freaked out and wants us to come down there, but..." Natalie paused and gave Sam a look.

"You go then." Sam quickly said.

"Are you sure?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, yeah go and see what's going on. I'll stay here and watch the phones."

Natalie remained in her position, not wanting to leave Sam here on his own and yet, she couldn't just ignore what Jody had told her over the phone.

"Nad." Sam's voice cut through. "Go. I'll be fine."

"Alright."

Instead of walking away, Natalie walked forward and wrapped her arms around Sam, her chin nestling on his shoulder as she held him close. Sam, at first, stood in his own surprise, before slowly wrapping his arms around her.

"What's with the hug, Nad?" Sam asked, the smile evident in his voice.

Natalie allowed herself to smile as well. "It's been a while since I've had a hug from you. Plus...I think you could use one." The end of Natalie's sentence was met with a firm squeeze, which Sam answered back with his own.

"I'll be fine." Sam assured.

Natalie nodded as she pulled away and looked up at him, seeing him motioning for her to go. Natalie nodded quickly and began to make her way out of the kitchen to get her bag from upstairs. Pausing at the threshold, Natalie tapped her fingers against the paneling and then turned back to Sam.

"Hey." Natalie waited for Sam to look up at her. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Sam only met her statement with a nod.

* * *

Natalie walked through the hospital doors and made her way up to the receptionist's desk. Leaning her hands down on the counter top, Natalie conjured the best smile she could.

"Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what room Jody Mills is in?"

The nurse eyed Natalie for a brief moment, sizing her up, which made Natalie feel a little creeped out by it.

"She's in room 14, down the hall." The nurse pointed down the hallway from Natalie's right.

Natalie nodded her thanks to the nurse before turning towards the hallway. Walking up to the door, Natalie took a hold on the handle, knocked a few times, then slowly opened the door. Stopping halfway, she saw Jody sitting on the side of the bed who quickly turned to Natalie and waved her in.

Natalie slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. As she walked towards the bed, Natalie could see that Jody had already gotten herself out of the hospital gown and into her clothes. She was ready to get out of here.

"I see you're all set." Natalie commented, as she placed her own bag down on the hospital bed.

"You have no idea."

Natalie crossed her arms over her chest and took a quick survey of the room. "So. Now, that I'm here, can you just run through what happened with me again? Just so that I can have a real clear picture."

"Alright." Jody placed her bag down next to her on the bed. "Basically, the doctor has been iffy for a while now."

"How so?"

"Okay, well let me just say, when I first got here he was fine. Then something happened...he just seemed a little to...nice." Jody's answer was met with a smile from Natalie. "It wasn't the nice, nice attitude, it was like the creepy nice. There was just something about him that made my stomach upset. So, I woke up to him sedating my roommate, Madeline Hackett, that's her name in case you needed to know and then he wheeled her out of the room, so naturally, I followed and he took her to one of the surgical suites, looked through the window and he was munching on her liver."

Natalie was silent while Jody recalled what had happened, her brows raising at the liver eating part. Once she was finished, Natalie remained silent, lips pursed and head nodding slowly, but, she wasn't giving any kind of verbal feedback, which is what Jody was looking for.

"Well, what do you think?" Jody asked suddenly, anxious for some kind of answer from the hunter.

Natalie visibly snapped herself from her thoughts and nodded. "No, yeah, it definitely sounds like something."

Her answer only proved that there was something distracting Natalie from seeing all of this with a clear mind and it didn't go unnoticed by Jody, who narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Is there something wrong?"

Natalie blinked. She really _was _becoming easier to read. "Uh...pretty much everything. Things happened and I guess you can say I'm a little...stressed by it all."

"Is it something that I should be worried about? Because if something is bothering you then that puts me on edge."

"Um." Natalie rubbed at her cheek. "Just watch your back the minute you leave this hospital. This whole situation...we don't even know the full extent of it yet."

"And that doesn't exactly make me feel any better."

Natalie raised her brows. "Yeah, I know. We're working on it though, so, I would say don't worry about it, but I probably shouldn't."

"Well, this is just great." Jody breathed out.

"Yeah. But, let's just get you out of here."

Jody picked up her bag and gave Natalie a look. "You don't have to tell me twice. Signed myself out already and called a cab."

"Okay." Natalie brought the wheelchair over towards Jody and waited as she gently lowered herself into the seat.

Once she was settled, Natalie wheeled her out of the room and down the hallway towards the main doors.

"So, if you don't mind me asking." Natalie began. "Why were you here in the first place? Is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah." Jody gave her a small wave. "It was just an appendectomy."

"That actually sounds pretty serious."

"It's out of me now, so I don't have to worry about it." Jody said, casually. "So, how is everyone? Sam and Dean?"

Natalie went quiet, her mood immediately changing at the mention of their names, but it didn't seem to catch Jody's attention, which Natalie was grateful for.

"They're fine. " Natalie lied. "It's just there's a lot that's going on right now that needs to be taken care of."

"You all never seem to catch a break from all of this, do you?"

Natalie smiled. "Trust me. If we could, we would be taking those opportunities without hesitation, but something is always going wrong...something that we always need to fix." Natalie's voice tapered off into sorrow at the end. Everything always seemed to be hammered down on their shoulders. No one else was taking the fall. Though, Natalie wouldn't necessarily want anybody to go through this.

"Well, I don't know every single detail about what you all go through, but, you're keeping people safe by doing it. Like me." Jody raised her arms up, gesturing to herself. "You came down here to help escort my ass out of this hospital."

"It's the least that I could do."

"So, how have you been the past year?"

She really was asking the _right _questions, wasn't she? But, this all made Natalie curious. Bobby had told Natalie what had taken place while she was absent. Jody and Bobby had interacted during the past year, the last time they had seen each other was a few weeks before Natalie found out that Sam was alive. That was something she would never forget. But, did Bobby never mention her to Jody? Most likely not, Bobby wasn't one who would just go on and talk about someone, especially Natalie, considering what she was going through at the time.

"Well, it wasn't exactly the best. Some things happened and they didn't exactly make things easy. But, I managed through it."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that."

Once they had made it outside, the taxi was waiting for them as Natalie opened the car door and helped Jody in. As she settled herself into the backseat, she turned to Natalie. "Thanks again for coming down."

Natalie offered a quick smile. "Don't mention it. Take care of yourself."

Jody gave Natalie a small wave as Natalie closed the car door, watching silently as the vehicle took off.

Natalie stood outside near the entrance, waiting for the car to fully pull out of the hospital entryway before turning around to head back inside. As she did so, Natalie mentally berated herself when she realized that she had left her bag in Jody's room. Picking up her pace, Natalie jogged her way back towards the hospital room, stopping at the entry way, sighing in relief when she saw her bag sitting on the bed where she had left it.

Strolling in Natalie picked up the bag and turned around to leave the room when she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of someone standing in the door way.

"I see Ms. Mills already signed herself out."

Natalie let out a breath, realizing that it was the doctor Jody had warned her about. Quickly, Natalie flashed a quick smile. "Yeah, um, she kinda wanted to get out of here. Just wanted to get home."

The doctor nodded as he slowly walked into the room, inching closer to Natalie. "I was kind of hoping to check her one last time before she did that."

Natalie's mouth dropped slightly, she was to distracted by the fact that he had been coming closer to her and she made the effort to keep an even distance from him. "Yeah...well, um, she felt like she was doing better so I couldn't really argue with her."

The doctor simply stared at Natalie, his lips curling into a deep smile that made Natalie visibly shake and stopped near the edge of the hospital bed. Natalie felt _so _uncomfortable around this guy, no wonder Jody wanted to get the hell out of here.

"Have I met you before?" The doctor suddenly asked.

Natalie was taken by surprise at his question and she only managed to blink before mustering up any kind of answer. "What?"

"I feel like I've met you before."

Natalie pursed her lips and slowly shook her head. "No. I don't think so." Natalie could feel her phone begin to vibrate from her pocket and she slowly pulled it out, looked down, seeing that it was Bobby calling her.

"You just look very familiar." The doctor continued.

_Okay, this is really creepy. _Natalie looked back up, shrugged and gave him a smile. "Maybe I just have one of those faces."

The phone call finally ended and Natalie silently cursed, wishing that she had taken the call and dismissed this awkward conversation with this guy.

The doctor narrowed his eyes at Natalie, assessing over her features as she tried desperately to not let how uncomfortable she felt slip through. Natalie's phone began to ring once again, catching both of their attentions this time.

"That must be a very important phone call."

Natalie gave him a look and then nodded. "Yeah, kinda is."

"Then I'll leave you to it." The doctor gave Natalie a smile before turning around and stopping at the room door to turn back to her. "You tell Ms. Mills to come back if anything else goes wrong."

Natalie nodded and gave him her most genuine smile, keeping that look up until he was finally out of the room and away from her view. Only then, Natalie let out a breath and felt her body give a slight shake.

"That was one of the most creepiest things I have ever experienced." She commented to herself.

After recuperating from that weird encounter, Natalie went back through her missed calls and hit Bobby's number.

_"Finally. Why weren't you answering my calls?" _

"I was in a little bit of a weird...situation." Natalie recalled, giving a slight wince at the event that just happened.

_"Well, Dean called me, said he was taking a case out in Kansas."_

"Yeah. I told him about this high school swim team that got butchered and he went to go check it out."

_"Well, I just got done with my errands and I'm heading back to the house." _

"Wait. I think that I may need you to come down to Sioux Falls General."

_"Sioux Falls General? Why the hell are you there?" _

"Well, while you were out, Jody mills called. She was all kinda freaked out because she was convinced her doctor was a monster...so I came down here to check it out."

_"Is Sam there with you?" _

Natalie paused, biting down on her bottom lip. "No..."

_"What do you mean no? You just left Sam back at the house, knowing his head ain't right?" _

"He told me to come down here and plus, I didn't want to drag him into this _because _of his head. But, I really think there's something going on here, so can you just get here?"

_"Alright. I'm about ten minutes from the hospital." _

"Okay. See you then."

* * *

Natalie blew out a long breath, feeling the boredom of waiting for Bobby starting to become more tiresome. She had a mind to call Sam, see how he was doing, but she never actually did. Most likely, Sam would just get annoyed with her checking up on him constantly.

Her phone in her pocket began to vibrate, prompting Natalie to quickly pull it out and answered the call. "Dean? What's up?"

_"Is Sam with you?" _

That question caused Natalie to lean up in her chair. "No. Why?"

_"Where are you anyway?" _

"I'm down at Sioux Falls General. Why what's going on?"

_"Sam isn't here. I just got back from looking into that case in Kansas and he's not here. I thought maybe he was with you." _

Natalie shook her head frantically. "No. He told me to come down here and that he would stay behind and watch the phones."

_"Well, he's not doing any watching right now. I can't find him anywhere." _

Pressing her hand up to her forehead, Natalie was rendered silent by this. This was such a stupid idea for her to come down here. "I shouldn't have left him..."

_"It's fine. I'll find him okay? What are you doing at the hospital anyway?"_

"Jody Mills called, saying that her surgeon was a potential monster, so I came down here to check it out."

_"Okay, well, just stay there alright? I'll find Sam and you focus on finding out what's going on there, okay?" _

Natalie pulled her hand away from her forehead and nodded. "Okay. Just find Sam...quickly."

_"Don't worry Nad." _

Natalie kept the phone up to her ear until she heard Dean end the call. The hospital doors slid open as Bobby strolled into the building, stopping to look around when he spotted Natalie sitting in one of the chairs.

"Nad."

Natalie turned her attention over to Bobby and immediately stood up, putting the phone back into her pocket and grabbed her bag from the chair next to her, and walked over to him. "Hey."

"So, what do you got?"

Natalie clapped her hands together and cupped them, hoping that being worried about Sam wouldn't get in the way of this. "Alright, so, I'm pretty sure that we might have something going on here. This doctor that Jody was telling me about...I finally was able to meet him, by random."

"And how was he?" Bobby's eyes narrowed.

"Honestly. Very, very, weird and also really creepy."

"That's all you got?" Bobby asked, his brow raising.

"No." Natalie quickly answered. "Jody said that she woke up to her doctor putting her roommate under sedation and wheeled her out of the room. So, Jody got up, followed him down to the surgical suite and saw him pull out her liver...and ate it."

Bobby's eyes widened and his brows furrowed. "He ate it?"

"That's what Jody told me. But, I'm pretty sure that the body has been transferred to the morgue. We should go and check it out, see if there's anything we can find."

"Alright, well. Let's get to it then."

Natalie and Bobby both turned and began to walk down the left corridor. "Oh by the way, Sam is missing." Natalie finally spoke up.

Bobby turned his attention over to her as they both kept up with their walking. "What do you mean he's missing?"

"Dean just got back from the job in Kansas and...Sam wasn't there."

"Oh, that's just great."

"Yeah, I know." Natalie answered. "I screwed up and I shouldn't have come down here...or at least, I should've brought Sam with me. That way I could keep my eye on him."

"Don't be to hard on yourself Nad. I assume Dean is out there now looking for him?"

Natalie nodded.

"Then we let him find Sam and we'll figure out what's going on here. Deal?" Bobby asked, casting a quick glance over at Natalie.

"Deal."

...

Bobby and Natalie rounded the corner of a long corridor, taking a look behind them, they both stepped out and proceeded down towards the morgue. Surprisingly, while they had been making their journey towards their destination, they had not encountered anyone...which was making Natalie suspicious.

Regardless of the suspicious lack of staff walking around this part of the building, Natalie dismissed this once she and Bobby were standing in the desolate space that was the morgue. It was chilly. No wonder, because it was the morgue, but being in the presence of dead human bodies was unnerving for Natalie. After all of the monsters that she has killed, dead humans was never something she was used to.

"What was the name of the woman?" Bobby's question pierced through Natalie's thoughts, effectively forcing her to focus.

"Madeline Hackett."

Bobby nodded as he surveyed the many rows of freezers along the walls and hummed to himself. "This should be easy."

Natalie and Bobby stepped towards the freezers, both of them splitting up to each side of the room. Bobby's comment was actually true. Most of the freezers didn't have any kind of identification that would tell them who was in it. That made their search a lot more easier.

Natalie skimmed down the name tags of a column of freezers until she reached one right in the middle. _Madeline Hackett. _"Bobby." Natalie waved for him to come over. "I found her."

Bobby sauntered over to the freezer and both of them assessed the name tag. "Died earlier this morning. Dr. Neil Williams."

"That's the creepy doctor I told you about." Natalie added.

"Right then." Bobby grabbed onto the freezer handle, twisted and pulled out the slab. A clipboard was resting on top of the body, which Natalie took to read through.

"It says here that she had foot surgery. And she died from it?" Natalie questioned, turning her attention back up at Bobby who was thinking the same thing.

"No way in hell." Bobby took the white sheet that was covering the body and carefully pulled it back, revealing a cold, pale corpse. Natalie walked over to one side of the slab, while Bobby stayed where he currently was. But, they both furrowed their brows at the stitched up incisions on the body. "She's already been autopsied?"

"Maybe it wasn't an actual autopsy." Natalie commented as she looked up at him. "Maybe the doctors were having themselves a human buffet."

Bobby reached over for a pair of latex gloves and handed them to Natalie, before grabbing a pair for himself. "Only one way to find out."

Bobby gestured for Natalie to hand him the scalpel from one of the trays next to her. Once she did, Bobby pressed the blade down on the upper part of Madeline's stomach and dragged the instrument down, creating a splitting cut down her torso. When the incision was made, Bobby placed down the scalpel as he sunk he hands in-between her ribcage and motioned for Natalie to do the same.

Placed her bag down on a table behind her, Natalie made a face as she secured her hands between the space of the ribcage and with a nod from Bobby, they both pulled, effectively breaking the ribcage open. Retracting her hands, Natalie couldn't help, but give a small gag at what she saw in Madeline's torso.

Stepping closer to the body, Natalie and Bobby leaned down, slightly, towards the opening, both of them trying to not let the state of her body get to them to much.

"It's nothing but a freaking doggie bag in here." Bobby sifted through the contents in her body, which actually wasn't much.

"There's nothing but...mush. Correction, there isn't even a lot of mush in her." Natalie leaned away from the body and pulled off the gloves. "So, you totally believe Jody's account?"

"It seems the Sheriff was right."

"Can I help you both?"

The source of the voice was from a doctor who was standing near the morgue doors, the one what Natalie had encountered earlier. Bobby and Natalie casted each other quick glances before pulling out their badges.

"Maybe you can explain who did this sloppy work?" Bobby asked, gesturing towards the body.

The doctor paused and his eyes narrowed in recognition. "I know...both of you."

Natalie froze in surprise at the man's comment, but Bobby was quick to reply. "No. You have the wrong people buddy."

The doctor began to make a slowly progress towards them, which was putting both Bobby and Natalie on edge.

"Bobby...Singer." The doctor smiled at Bobby and then turned his attention over to Natalie. "And you...Natalie Collins, isn't it? We all saw you through the angel's eyes."

Natalie could feel her chest tighten and a sharp breath caught in her throat. She and Bobby both began to slowly back up, away from the body.

The doctor's smirk curled into a full on smile as he began to stride over to Bobby, who picked up a mallet from the table and cut it across the doctor's face. The man regained himself and looked up at Bobby, his eyes hardened with fierce anger.

Natalie looked down at Bobby's bag, seeing his shotgun poking out from the opening and quickly grabbed the weapon. Clicking in the round, before she could send off a shot, the man's face transformed into a huge mouth, with sharp, pointed teeth and a tongue that could only relate to that of a snake's. Natalie made a face at the sight, barely able to comprehend it before his face went back to normal.

Raising the gun, Natalie finally shot a round into the man's chest, only to be met with it not having any kind of effect on him. _Oh you have got to be kidding me. _

"Fair enough." Bobby quickly commented.

Grabbing the bag, Bobby gestured for Natalie to follow. Natalie quickly picked up her bag from the table and they bolted out a different set of doors as Bobby grabbed Natalie, pulling her to the right, towards one of the exits that led to the back of the hospital. Once out, they both broke out into a run towards the parking lot.

"Was that what I think it was?" Natalie called out, her voice filled with heavy breathing as they continued their run.

"Leviathan." Bobby clarified as they made a quick run across the main entrance road of the hospital and into the parking lot.

When they made it towards Bobby's van, Natalie stopped suddenly and looked around the lot. "Wait, my car is still here." Natalie called out.

Bobby looked at Natalie through the driver and passenger window. "Seriously, Nad? Leave it. We'll come back for it later."

Natalie huffed out a painful, heavy breath as she yanked open the passenger door and got in, right as Bobby turned on the ignition and sped out of the parking lot.

As the car blazed down the road, back towards the house, Natalie was still trying to catch her breath and to try and wrap her mind around what just happened.

"Okay." Natalie breathed out. "So, Leviathan are here...in Sioux Falls. Taking over doctors...that means they can literally be anyone right now."

"Well, it's no wonder. After Cas disappeared at that water plant, the Leviathan were able to travel anywhere through the piping."

"I didn't think they would stay so close to home though." Natalie muttered as she leaned her head back against the seat. "What are we going to do?"

Bobby pulled out his phone and quickly dialed out a number before placing it up to his ear.

_"Bobby?" _Sam's voice came through the other end.

"Well, the Sheriff was right. Nad and I were looking into the hospital situation and it's definitely our kind of thing. We were both in the morgue and Nad shot one into them, nothing happened. Only bled black ooze."

_"Wait, the Leviathan are here?" _

"Yeah. We're heading back to the house. Let's regroup there and see what exactly we can do to stop these things."

_"Alright." _

Bobby pulled the phone away and placed it back into the pocket. "I will say one thing." Bobby spoke up, causing Natalie to look over at him. "It's a good thing you didn't do all of that on your own."

Natalie only nodded her head in agreement. If she had been in that morgue on her own when that Leviathan came in, who knows what might've happened. The rest of the car ride was short, due to Bobby's speeding. Once they reached the entrance to the salvage yard, Bobby made a sharp turn and sped up the gravel pathway.

As the car began to turn a small corner, Natalie looked up and reached out for Bobby's arm."Bobby."

At her word, Bobby stopped the car and his eyes wandered over to the house, where a few guys were finishing up with pouring gasoline on the outside walls and foundation. They all then took out matches, lit up the entirety of them and threw it at the house, causing it to immediately catch on fire.

"Oh my god." Natalie breathed out.

The group of men near the home turned their attention towards Natalie and Bobby, catching them both off guard. Right on time, the driver and passenger side windows were smashed, causing Natalie and Bobby to duck down to avoid getting cut by the shards of glass.

Natalie felt a pair of hands grab onto her arms and began to pull her out through the window. With her back towards the perpetrator, Natalie could see someone doing the same thing to Bobby. With a quick motion, Natalie brought her head back, feeling it come into contact with the person's face. Using it to her advantage, Natalie yanked her right arm out from its grasp and brought her elbow back, hitting the person's face, which made a sickening crack sound.

Natalie leaned forward and turned her body to the right, her back pressed up against the arm rest. Now that she was able to see that her attacker was a male and that was it. Natalie brought up her leg and kicked the man in the face several times, when his hand took hold of her legs and pulled her towards the car door. Natalie gave a gasp when she felt several stinging pinches on the bottom of her right calf, which was resting on still attached shards of glass.

Reaching for her gun, embedded in the back of her pants, Natalie took a firm grip on the handle, pulled it out, aimed the weapon at the man's face and with a click, she fired off to rounds. It did the trick. His hold on her released and she turned herself as much as she could while lying on her back and aimed the gun at the one still holding Bobby and fired off two rounds into his head.

"Bobby go!" Natalie called out.

Bobby put the car into reverse and stepped down on the gas pedal. The car flew down the gravel pathway, backing out of the entrance and turning the car right, Bobby put the car into drive and sped down the main road, the tires screeching against the concrete.

Natalie pulled her leg back into the car and pushed her sore body back up into a sitting position. Immediately, she could feel a vibrating stinging in her right calf and she reached down to rub at the spot, only to see a small trace of blood when she pulled her hand away.

"You alright?" Bobby asked once he saw the blood on her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Natalie brushed off his concern. "I'm guessing that was the Leviathan as well."

"Don't like that we were getting to nosy when it deals with their business." Bobby commented.

"Wait. Sam and Dean. They can't go back to the house." Natalie began to search her pockets only to find that her phone was no longer with her. "Where's my phone?" Natalie reached down towards the floor mat, trying to find her phone.

"Don't worry about it. We've got company."

Natalie leaned back up and looked in the side mirror, seeing that there were three cars following them. Natalie turned fully in her seat to look out the back window, seeing the cars were picking up their speed to keep up with Bobby.

"They're not going to leave us alone." Natalie said, her voice taking on a grim tone.

From the back window, Natalie could see one of the cars merge into the next lane and was driving up alongside Bobby, inching closer towards the drivers side.

"So we're just gonna have to fight back." Natalie said quickly.

Bobby gave Natalie a confused look as he picked up the car's speed, only to have the car matching up with the speed. "You know that bullets won't do anything to them, right?"

"It might not be able to kill them, but it can buy us some time." Natalie pulled out her gun and checked her ammo clip, seeing that she only had enough bullets to take on this car and maybe another one before she would have to reload.

Looking up, Natalie could see the car slowly creeping up on the drivers side, the image of the vehicle just beginning to appear through the broken window. Bracing her hand against Bobby's chest, she pushed him back against the seat and aimed her gun, waiting for their car windows to match up. Once they were aligned, Natalie gave herself a quick second and shot off a round, shattering the passenger window. Gaining a clear shot of two people sitting in the front, Natalie fired off one round each, both shots hitting the two men in the head. The car quickly swerved towards the right and Natalie set off another round into the right front tire, before releasing her hand from Bobby's chest.

The sound of the car coming to a screeching halt was able to cut through the loud roar of the engine. Pulling out her ammo clip, Natalie saw that she only had one bullet left and she was going to have to make it count. Turning towards the shattered passenger window, she was able to spark up a quick plan. Taking off her boot, Natalie used the shoe to break off the shards of glass that were still stuck in the window. Once it was clean, Natalie set her shoe down on the floor mat, then carefully, leaned her head out the window and pulled herself out far enough until she gained a clear view of the car following immediately behind them.

Her eyes were trying to settle on one of the tires, but the fact that it was nighttime and the headlights were practically blinding her vision, it was making it hard to get a perfect outline of the tire. Huffing out in exasperation, Natalie decided that she would just go for the shot. Raising her gun, Natalie tried to focus on the spot where she was fairly sure one of the tires would be. Taking in a breath and praying that it didn't miss, Natalie pressed down on the trigger and a shot rang out. A satisfying pop noise resonated among the loud roaring engines as the car swerve towards the side of the road, leaving only one more car to take care of.

Natalie slowly lowered herself back into the car and quickly reached for her bag that was sitting behind her seat. Rummaging through it, Natalie realized that there was a complication. She was trying to search for bullets with virtually no light.

"Dammit." Natalie cursed as she dug her hand towards the bottom, trying to feel around for her extra ammo.

"Nad, what's taking so long?" Bobby asked.

"Just give me a second Bobby." Natalie answered, sounding a bit panicked.

"Well, not trying to rush you, but this one is really starting to get up on my tail."

The car suddenly jerked forward that was proceeded by a loud crash. Natalie felt her body surge towards the dash, her legs falling off of the seat until her knees were practically touching the floor mat. Pulling herself up as much as she could, Natalie grabbed for her bag again when the car jerked forward again.

"Nad hurry it up!"

"You try finding ammo in this kind of situation!" Natalie retorted back.

"Oh, hell." Bobby reached for his gun that was sitting in his beltline and tapped Natalie on the side of the hip. "Here use mine."

Natalie leaned back up and took the gun from Bobby and quickly leaned herself out the window. This time Natalie really didn't try to aim for the tires, she pointed the gun in the direction where they would most likely hit the target and began to fire off one shot after the other. On the fifth shot, Natalie smiled in triumph at the sound of the tire popping and the car moving towards the side of the road.

Pulling herself back in the car, Natalie clicked the safety on and set the gun in her lap as she leaned back against the seat, letting out sighs of relief with a big smile on her face. Looking over at Bobby, Natalie could see almost of a scolding look on his face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, genuinely confused. They just took out the Leviathan's car, if anything they should be celebrating right now.

"You know, you doing risks like leaning out the window of a speeding car, is going to give me a heart attack."

Natalie rolled her eyes and let out a genuine laugh. "Come on Bobby. I literally just saved our asses and you're going to scold me about how I did it?"

"Just don't do it again." Bobby replied.

Natalie couldn't help but shrug. "I thought it was pretty fun."

* * *

The night was long for Natalie and Bobby. Once they were finished with getting the Leviathan off their track, Natalie tried to get Bobby to take her back to the hospital. That way she would be able to get her car and drive it to wherever they needed to go. That was a firm no from Bobby, which Natalie had to accept, for the time being. Instead, Bobby insisted that they retreat to one of his many cabins that he has put up in various states. Hunters from all over could take refuge if they needed to. And right now, Bobby and Natalie couldn't afford to stay at a local place.

But, when they reached the cabin, Natalie couldn't help but worry herself over Sam and Dean and she wanted to call them. But, somewhere in the scuffle she and Bobby had back at the house, Natalie's phone went missing. Somewhere in the car, but she couldn't find it. Bobby insisted that she stop looking for it and get some rest, which she hesitantly agreed to. Bobby assured her that he would find out where Sam and Dean were and first thing in the morning, they'll find them and drive out to Whitefish, Montana, which is where Bobby wants them to stay for the remainder of this Leviathan crisis.

Surprisingly, Natalie slept fairly well during the night. She would've thought that with all of the adrenaline she experienced with shooting out the tires of the Leviathan's cars, it would've kept her up. She was wrong. If anything, the event just made her exhausted and it was the first time in a few days that she was able to get a decent amount of sleep.

Natalie shoved her night clothes into her bag and closed the zipper. She turned around at the sound of the front door opening and saw Bobby walk in with something in his hand.

"I found this." Bobby strolled over to her and handed Natalie her phone.

"Where was It?" She asked.

"Under the passenger seat. It must've fallen out during the attack." Bobby answered offhandedly as he reached over for his bag. "Well, we need to get going. I know where Sam and Dean are."

Natalie looked up, her eyes wide. "Where?"

"They're at Sioux Falls General."

Natalie's face relaxed and she let out a groan. "That's just great."

"Yeah." Bobby nodded. "Well, come on, let's get in the van and go rescue those idjits."

Natalie nodded and turned back around to her bag. But, she turned on her phone and saw that she had two missed calls: one from Dean and the other from Sam, and she had one voicemail. As her brows furrowed, Natalie clicked on the notification and placed the phone up to her ear, hearing the robotic voice alerting her that she had one message.

_"Nad? Nad, answer the phone." _Natalie could feel her chest tighten at the sound of Sam's voice.

_"Nad...you can't be buried in that burnt ruble back there. There's no way that you can be...you can't be gone Nad. Remember? You promised that we would talk. Well, I'm here Nad, where are you? You can't be gone...please. Call me back." _

Natalie slowly pulled the phone away from her ear, staring down at the screen as Sam's message began to loop over and over in her mind. He sounded so destroyed and...scared, which was something that Natalie had never heard genuine fear from him before. And the thought that Sam thinks that she's dead was eating away at her. Slipping her phone into her pocket, Natalie grabbed her bag and quickly walked out of the door.

Walking up to the van, Natalie quickly got into the car and set her bag down near her feet. "So, most likely the Leviathan are still there and they will be able to recognize us..."

"Then we have to get in and get out as quick as we can." Bobby answered as he turned on the ignition and pulled out onto the main road.

"And do we have a plan?"

"Of course we do." Bobby replied, giving Natalie a look. "We're gonna get Sam and Dean out of there and we'll ditch this van and use one of the ambulances."

Natalie raised her brows at the end of Bobby's sentence. "Did you just say that we're going to be stealing an ambulance?"

"You heard right. We're going to commit our first act of Ambulance theft."

Natalie couldn't help but let out a quick laugh. "Well, let me just put that on my resume."

* * *

**And we are done with this chapter! WOW! This was honestly a real pain for me to get finished and I have no idea why. Anyways! NEXT CHAPTER IS THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! HOPE YOU ARE READY! And once again, next chapter will be predominantly Sam/Nad so get ready for that!**

**Review Responses:**

**Soul's Companion: **I am so glad that you liked the previous chapter! It's still not one I am too fond of, but hopefully I'll go back and edit the chapter a little bit

**Marloweee1865: **I am so glad that you loved the chapter! Nad and Jake always remind me of Riley and Jackson when I write them! I love writing Nad and Jake together and I am hoping to get a little more of their interactions into this story. Nad being hell bent on finding Cas was how the chapter was going to go. She wants to make sure Cas didn't do anymore damage and she wasn't going to let Dean convince her otherwise. And OF COURSE I had to throw in the "eyes peeled" I have you keep you all on your toes about this little warning! I promise there will be more hints dropped in future chapters and then THE GRAND EVENT WILL HAPPEN! Caden will be back, hopefully, within the next couple of chapters, still planning it out. And he will be fine...for a short time at least *insert maniacal laughter* Thanks for the review sweetie!

**January Lily: **Ugh the first chapter was a pain to write, but THIS ONE was even more of a pain, but I do hope you like this one as well. And I know exactly what you mean about Death. I FREAKING LOVE HIM! He's in my top five favorite characters on the show, so I know exactly how you feel when it comes to Death. I think the show needs more of him and I am glad you are excited as well about what's going to do down with this warning. All in good time. And Caden will be alright for a while. He'll be spending some time with Natalie and the Winchesters, so it will be interesting to write. And the whole day dreamed thing, honestly, I was smiling so much when I read that! I think it would be really interesting to see how Elle and Caden would react to one another. And also, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the second review that you left for me. I know that I already sent you a message on tumblr, but this message really is something that I read when I need some motivation and it will continue to be that for me. Seriously thank you so much!

**sarahmichellegellarfan1****: **I'm really happy that you like the first chapter! It really was hard to get through, but chapter 2 takes the prize for now as being the hardest chapter so far. But, I do hope that you enjoy it!

**SUPERNATURAL210: **Here is your update! Do hope that you like it!

**Guest: **Next chapter shall be the moment that I think you have all been waiting for. And it really has been a long time coming. I've been waiting to get that moment published for so long!


	3. I Couldn't Save You

_A/N: And here it is, the chapter that all of this have been building up to! I really hope that I am able to deliver for you all! Also, Dean's love interest will hopefully be introduced in the next chapter, unless I decide otherwise. But, she will be introduced very soon and I really do hope you all will fall in love with her! _

_Also, in regards to the de-aging spell hunt I had you all vote on, the finalized votes were counted and you guys chose for either Natalie and Dean taking care of child!Sam or Sam and Natalie taking care of child!Dean. I have decided to go with the first one, since Dean kind of goes through a de-aging spell in this season. But, this hunt shall be coming up soon!_

_**TRIGGER WARNING: In this chapter, Natalie talks about her past relationship. Now, she doesn't go into great detail about it, but it might just be enough to trigger some people who might've had some abusive or controlling relationships. So, I am just going to put this trigger to warn people to read cautiously!**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural_

* * *

Dean felt himself slowly starting to wake up. At first, he felt delirious and when he opened his eyes, his vision was distorted, which made him feel sick to his stomach. Rubbing at his sore eye lids, he turned his head to the side and began to focus his sight so he could see where he was. A heart monitor was settled next to him and this prompted him to look down at what he was lying on and saw it was a hospital bed. It all started coming back to Dean. He and Sam returned to the house, only to find the place completely torched and was nothing more than a charred pile of ruble. Sam and Dean immediately thought the worse. After several missed calls to Bobby and Natalie, the brother's were finding it hard to accept the idea of Bobby and Natalie's bodies lying underneath the ruined home. Then they encountered one of the Leviathan that had stayed behind and that altercation ended with Sam and Dean being transported to Sioux Falls General.

"Damn." Dean quietly cursed, remembering that he needed to get out of here. Pulling the covers away from his body, he gingerly moved his legs over to the side. As he tried to stand up, Dean fell immediately to the ground. Confused, Dean looked down and saw that his right leg was in a cast.

Just as he began to mentally curse the fact that he was rendered almost useless, the door to his room opened and Bobby quickly stepped in. Dean was pretty much gawking as he stared at Bobby, thinking how he and Sam thought he was dead. But, Bobby didn't seemed phased by Dean's staring. Instead, he gave Dean a confused look.

"Bobby?" Dean asked, hoping it would give him some clarification that this wasn't a dream.

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing on the floor?"

Dean blinked, remembering how he had gotten in the position by his pathetic attempt to get out of bed. He pressed his hand against the ground to push himself up. Bobby quickly walked over and grabbed Dean by the arm, helping him up.

"I...monster broke my leg." Dean fumbled over his words as he finally was seated back on the bed. He looked back up at the aged hunter, still in disbelief that he was actually here. "We thought you were dead.

"Yeah, well, I ain't." Bobby offered.

"So, then, where's N..."

As if on cue, the door opened and Natalie slipped into the room. "Bobby. Hey, we kind of need to hurry and get these two out of here."

"Right." Bobby turned back to Dean." Where's Sam?"

Dean, who had been staring at Natalie, realized that he had not answered Bobby. "Uh...head scan."

Bobby nodded and then gently patted the side of Dean's face. "Hey. I ain't going nowhere"

Bobby turned around and Natalie made a clear path for him to leave the room. Once he was gone, Natalie got to work. Placing the bag down on one of the spare tables, she pulled out a set of Dean's clothes that Bobby retrieved from the Impala back at the house.

"Okay. Here are some clothes for you to put on." Natalie walked over to Dean to hand him the clothes and paused when she saw him staring at her. "What?"

"What?" Dean repeated. "Nad...we thought you were dead."

Natalie pursed her lips together. "I know..."

At this point, Dean had pushed himself up and wrapped his arms around Natalie, tugging her close to him. Natalie could only respond by wrapping her free arm around him as well. _He really thought that they were dead. _But, Natalie had to remind herself what that must have been like for Sam and Dean. Returning to the junk yard, only to find that the house was destroyed and Natalie and Bobby were nowhere to be found. She probably would have thought the worse as well.

Dean finally pulled away and sat down back on the bed. "Why didn't you answer our calls?"

"Bobby and I were in a little bit of a situation..." Natalie said, but she could see the expectant look on his face. "I'll explain it on the way to the ambulance. You need to put these on so we can get the hell out of here." Natalie offered the clothes to Dean, who slowly took them out of her hands.

"Oh." Natalie spoke up, her lips pouting out. "You don't need any help putting those on...do you?"

Dean looked down at his broken leg and his eyes widened at the thought. "Uh. No, I should be fine."

"Okay." Natalie said with a small smile. Turning around, she walked towards the door and paused to look back at him. "Try to go as fast as you can. I'll be right out the door."

...

Natalie, while waiting outside of the hospital room, made sure to keep herself from being recognize by any of the nurses or doctors that walked down the hallway. She didn't know who was a Leviathan and who wasn't. Due to this, she had to be extremely careful with how she handled herself out in the public, especially when it came to returning to a location where they could instantly recognize her.

The door opened and Natalie turned, seeing Dean shuffling out on his crutches. Natalie could feel a smile come on and she cleared her throat, trying to rid of it.

Dean was able to catch the beginning of it and gave her a glare. "It's not funny, Nad."

"No, I know. It's just...never thought I would see the great Dean Winchester on crutches."

"Shut up." Dean rolled his eyes. "Can we just get a move on?"

Natalie nodded and began to walk at an even pace with Dean, making sure to keep her head down when a doctor or nurse walked by.

"So, are you going to tell me why you didn't answer any of our calls?" Dean asked, hoping to finally get an answer to his question.

"Yeah, well, Bobby and I got to the house and these group of guys were setting the house on fire."

"You were there when it happened?"

Natalie nodded quickly. "Then they tried to get into the car and we had a little scuffle with them. My phone must've fallen out during it."

"Then what happened?"

"We got out but three cars starting following us. Of course we had to get rid of them so I shot out their tires."

"Damn. Nice Nad." Dean proudly commented.

"Thanks." Natalie replied, not really fully taking Dean's compliment. "How did you and Sam end up here? And with a broken leg?" Natalie motioned towards his casted leg.

"Sam and I got to the house. We tried looking for you and Bobby. One of the Leviathan stayed behind. Threw me into a car, broke my leg and Sam got his head nearly kicked in...literally."

"Just what he needs. More injuries to his head."

"We squashed the guy with one of the junk cars though." Dean added, as if he thought it would make her feel better.

Natalie raised her brows. "Creative. Where was Sam? I mean when you called me about Sam not being at the house...where did you find him?"

"Oh, yeah, that." Dean recalled the memory quickly. "I tracked his phone and found him at this warehouse. He was hallucination Nad. It was messing with his mind to the point he pointed his gun at me."

Natalie looked over at Dean with wide eyes, which he only equaled hers with a scoff. "I know right. But, I was able to calm him and that's when Bobby called us." Dean took a survey of one of the waiting rooms as they passed it. "What was going on here anyway that got you involved?"

"Uh, Jody Mills, you remember that who zombie epidemic thing that happened here last year?"

Dean nodded.

"Well, she was in here, recovering from an appendectomy and she saw her doctor eating the liver from her roommate."

Dean slowly looked over at Natalie, his brows knitted in a surprise, disgusted look.

"She wanted me to come down here to check it out. I got here out of the hospital and then called Bobby to come and help. We got down to the morgue to examine the body and there was literally nothing in her. She was already "autopsied" on." " Natalie said, making sure to air quote the word.

"Then we got confronted by the doctor and we made a beeline out of that place. And I guess you can piece together how it coincided with Bobby's phone call." Natalie finished.

"So, Leviathan's just taking over whatever they can get their hands on." Dean commented.

"But, there is really no way of knowing who is a Leviathan. I mean..." Natalie paused to let a group of doctors walk by them. "That entire group could be nothing but Leviathan. We have absolutely no way of knowing."

"Well, let's just get the hell out of here and figure it out later."

As they continued down the hall, Natalie could see a few of the staff were giving them looks. Each time they would pass a group of staff, the stares they would get increased and Natalie could feel a small sense of panic. "Alright, Dean. We need to kinda hurry it up, because I feel like they are starting to know what's going on."

Dean looked up and around the area as they began to make their way past the main desk. Without saying a word, Dean tried to pick up his pace as Natalie tried her best to not move faster than him. Even though she wanted to get out of the hospital, her and Dean trying to make a break for the ambulance dock would be fairly suspicious if anyone saw that. With that in mind, Natalie made sure to navigate their movement so that it would be less noticeable.

Making it to the ambulance dock, Natalie told Dean to stay behind until she was able to see if the area was clear. Finding no one there, Natalie walked back towards the section of the dock hallway where Dean was and motioned for him to come down. Walking over to one of the doors, she pushed it open and kept her back against it to keep it open, allowing Dean room to walk through.

Once Dean was out, Natalie helped him over to the passenger side, opened the car door and helped Dean into the vehicle. Once he was in and she shut the car door, Natalie made her way over to the back entrance of the vehicle. Right as she reached for the handle, the door that she and Dean had come out of opened. Looking over Natalie saw the same doctor she and Bobby encountered in the morgue along with a nurse. Throwing the door open, Natalie quickly jumped in.

"Go! Bobby drive!" Natalie called out as she turned to close the ambulance doors. Before she could get them closed, the doctor and the nurse began to run after the vehicle. Slamming the door shut, Natalie's body fell against the doors as Bobby pressed down on the accelerator.

"You alright Nad?" Bobby called back to her, having heard a decent thud coming from the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Natalie groaned as she stepped away from the doors. She looked down at Sam, who was still unconscious, lying on the gurney and her lips pressed into a thin line. "How long till we get there Bobby?" Natalie asked.

"It's gonna take a while, so you might as well get comfortable."

Natalie blew out a breath and maneuvered herself over to one of the benches near the gurney and plopped down. Feeling a little hope in herself that Sam would wake up during the ride. That way, she could show him that she wasn't dead. She was still here.

Raising her hand, Natalie reached over and gently brushed away a few strands of hair from his face. "I'm still here Sam. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

The sky was just beginning to turn dark as Natalie walked over to the passenger door, which was already opened, and waited for Dean to slowly get out of the vehicle. She could see the exhaustion that was emanating from him. Hell, they were all exhausted from that ride. None of them had successfully gotten any kind of sleep during the ride. Trying to sleep in an ambulance wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do.

Once Dean slid out of the vehicle, he took out his crutches and began to make his way over to the porch steps with Natalie following closely behind. Once they reached the steps, Natalie took Dean's crutches, set them up against the steps railing and motioned for him to put his arm around her neck, which he did. After securing her hold on him, Natalie and Dean began to make the rather difficult trudge up the steps. With Dean only able to hop on one leg, it was making for a rather interesting moment for them.

Natalie tried to lift Dean up as much as she could, since he was bigger than her, but she was hoping it would be enough to make it easier on his good leg. About halfway up the steps, all of Dean's weight suddenly clamped down on Natalie and his body began to slump, as if he was about to fall down. Natalie paused and tried to keep him up and she could hear him groaning.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked, the strain in her voice was evident. She was worried that he would slip right through her hold.

"Cramp." Dean's singular answer caused Natalie to roll her eyes.

"Are you serious Dean? Come on." Natalie hoisted him back up, giving him a moment to let the cramp in his good leg run its course. Then they continued up the rest of the stairs and Natalie quickly threw the door open.

"Over to the couch we go." Natalie quickened the pace to the point that she was nearly dragging Dean. But, luckily they got to their destination quickly and Natalie gently settled Dean down onto the sofa.

Leaning back up, she stretched out her back and let out a breath. "You were seriously making a scene because of a cramp in your leg?"

Dean looked up at her. "Hey. It freaking hurt okay." Dean complained as he rubbed at his now sore thigh.

"Worse than a damn broken leg?" Natalie pointed at his gimp limb.

"It was unexpected, alright. I didn't expect to have a Charlie horse right then and there."

Natalie made a semi-sympathetic face. "Do you want me to give you one of my world renown leg massages?" She asked, her hands doing a little squeezing motion.

Dean looked up at Natalie, genuine questioning crossed his face, he didn't know whether she was really serious, but that sounds like heaven. "Would you actually do it?"

Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Hey you're the one who brought it up, not me." Dean added towards the end.

"Just stay on the couch and don't try to move." Natalie ordered.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Dean quietly commented.

Natalie walked back out of the house, not giving Dean any kind of remark as she went down the steps to get his crutches, which were still resting against the stair railing. Walking back in the house, Natalie set them down against the couch armrest, next to Dean so that he would have quick access to them.

Bobby walked up the porch and through the open door with Sam, who was walking with the aid of Bobby. Natalie turned and raised her brows at seeing Sam up on his feet.

"Is he awake?" She asked.

"Kind of." Bobby casted a quick glance over at him. "He's still a little...delirious, but he's able to walk somewhat."

Natalie nodded and looked down seeing that Sam was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants under his hospital gown. "Did you get those pants on him yourself?"

"Don't ask." Bobby commented. "I'm gonna get him into one of the rooms."

Natalie nodded. "Alright. I'll go and get the rest of the bags."

Bobby adjusted his hold on Sam before taking easy steps towards one of the bedrooms. When Bobby said that Sam was sort of awake, he actually meant it. He was conscious, but, the hit he took to his head was giving Sam a serious side effect. He was nothing short from delirious and was mumbling words that Bobby couldn't make out.

Walking into the room, Bobby hauled Sam over to the bed and gently sat him down on the mattress. With Sam's sweatshirt in his hand, Bobby set down the garment on the bed while he took off Sam's hospital gown. The whole time Sam's body would start to fall back and Bobby would have to quickly sit him up right again. Sam was literally like a rag doll. He had absolutely zero control of his body's balance. Gently pulling the hospital gown over Sam's head, Bobby quickly slid on the gray sweatshirt and Sam apparently knew that Bobby was done, because he wasted no time in falling against the mattress, his head sinking into the pillows.

Natalie walked into the room, Sam's bag in hand and placed it down on a spare chair near the nightstand. "Got his bag from the car."

Sam pried his eyes open halfway, only able to see two blurry figures standing next to his bed. He couldn't make them out, but he did recognize the voices. Bobby and...Nad? _How is that possible? I thought they were dead._

_"They are dead. You're just seeing what you want to see. It's okay, Sam. It'll pass." _Lucifer's voice rang through crystal clear to Sam.

Sam turned to his side, huffed out his annoyance at hearing Lucifer in his head again and tried to gain some stability so he could push himself up. But, the two other voices began to grow closer and more clear. It was Bobby and Natalie.

"Nad?" Sam's voice rang out in a scratchy call that made the voices stop. Sam could feel himself grow frustrated from the silence. "Nad?" Sam asked, this time his tone took on a more frantic tone.

Natalie quickly walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed, taking hold of Sam's arm. "Yeah. I'm here." Natalie used her other hand to touch his cheek and she would feel how warm he was. "Bobby." She looked over at the hunter. "He's really warm."

"I'll go and get some cold water." Bobby said as he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Natalie turned her attention back towards Sam. His eyes were open and he was looking right at her, but when she really focused on him, it was almost like he couldn't actually see her. "Sam, I'm right here."

Sam blew out a strained breath as he rolled onto his back, his eyes closing from the pounding in his head. "...no...the house-it was gone...you...couldn't find..."

Natalie continued pressing gentle pressure against Sam's cheek, hoping him feeling her physical touch would somehow give him a sense of reality. "Sam...I'm right here. I'm here."

Sam feebly shook his head, as if he was trying to not listen to her. "...you're gone..." Sam finished with a huff that sounded more like a sob, which tore through Natalie. Sam turned to look at Natalie, his eyes, which were now glazed over, stared down at her. "...you're not real..."

Natalie pursed her lips together. Sam really thought that she was dead and that what he was looking at was, what, simply a hallucination? He thought that she was just a figment of his imagination. The fact that his wall was no longer existing and he retained a serious blow to the head, it was messing with him.

Bobby walked back into the room, carrying a medium bowl with cold water and a rag was sitting in the liquid. Natalie stood up and took the bowl from Bobby. "You'll be able to handle him?"

Natalie looked up at Bobby, who was staring at Sam, physically concerned for how the younger Winchester was behaving. Staring down at the bowl, enough time to gather her thoughts, she slowly nodded. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

"Alright." Bobby nodded. "I'll leave you to it. If you need anything, I'm right outside that door."

With a slow nod, Bobby casted one last look at Sam and then left the room, making sure to quietly close the door behind him. Natalie turned and sat back down on the bed, placing the bowl on the nightstand in front of her and made sure to place her phone down on the table as well. Picking up the rag, she dipped it in the cold water, wringed out the excess and folded the rag twice.

She went to work with wiping at his forehead and both cheeks. It was evident that the relief was greatly appreciated since she heard Sam hum his approval. Then, she moved the rag down to his neck, already feeling the cloth warming up. After doing the first over, Natalie dipped the rag back into the bowl and repeated the cycle, hoping to keep his temperature from rising. The whole time, Sam was making incoherent words that Natalie could not, for the life of her, decipher. It was just mumbling to her ears.

Natalie went to repeat the cycle of getting the rag cold, when Sam's voice finally spoke up, this time in something that she could understand.

"...when would you...have told me." Sam slurred out.

Natalie knitted her brows together in confusion. "What?"

"...if you didn't tell me at Fort Collins...when would you have?"

All Natalie could do was stare at Sam, perplexed by what he was all of a sudden trying to discuss with her. But, the words soon rang through as familiar and she brows raised when she realized that he was talking about their conversation, back at Bobby's. Either he thought they were having it for the first time or this was just a side effect from his head injury.

Natalie fiddled with the rag in her hands and blew out a breath as she tried to remember what she told him exactly back at the house. "I don't know. But, if you want to know the truth...I probably wouldn't have told you." Natalie said, repeating what she had said earlier.

Sam gave her his best attempt at a surprised look. "...why..."

Natalie shrugged. "You told me that you didn't have the best history with women and I understand why you would reject the idea of any kind of relationship."

"I've thought about it...a lot, pretty much every single day...and I guess I was just afraid you were going to get hurt...by me."

Natalie cringed at hearing him talk to her in the past tense. "Sam, you would never do anything to hurt me."

_"Well, you already kinda did." _Lucifer's voice appeared from the foot of the bed, prompting Sam to open his eyes, seeing him standing there, looking at him. _"I mean, she really is gone Sam. The burnt house, not answering calls, you couldn't find her...oh yeah, she's definitely gone." _

"...I couldn't save you, that's on me." Sam painfully admitted, his eyes still glued on the spot where Lucifer was continuing to taunt him.

"Sam..."

"I wanted to have that...that chance of normalcy...I wanted to have it with you...I wanted it so badly." Sam's face contorted at feeling his own guilt ridden anguish and since it was mingling with Lucifer's words, it was promising effective damage for Sam. This false guilt and grief he was experiencing was effecting him in a way Natalie couldn't even begin to try and come up with a way to snap him out of it.

Abandoning the rag into the bowl, Natalie leaned closer towards Sam, her hand resting against his cheek, feeling that his face was still very warm and she tilted his head to the side to make sure that he was looking at her. "Sam, it's okay."

Sam slowly shook his head. "...no, I should've told you...I didn't tell you..."

Natalie framed his face with her hands, ensuring that he couldn't look away from her and this allowed for their eyes to lock down on each other. "Sam. Tell me what?"

Sam's face finally relaxed, they were already red and irritated from the tears that had been brimming for far too long. Natalie felt a breath hitch in her throat. The look he was giving her, it almost seemed dead. It was just a blank stare that she was getting from him. But, she also see the conflict in them. To Sam, this wasn't real. She wasn't real and this was just his mind playing tricks on him, forcing him to relive what he wanted most.

During the moment of complete silence that fell upon them, Sam raised his hand up only to run a finger through her hair. "...I love you..."

His proclamation was so quiet and to Natalie, it felt like it came out of nowhere. Surprised, Natalie only managed to allow her jaw to drop open slightly as Sam's eyes roamed over her face.

"...I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner..."

_Was he telling the truth? Or is this just his concussion doing all the talking? _Honestly, Natalie, in the few seconds after, believed that this wasn't true. That it was just Sam talking "gibberish". This was dispelled when she repeated the words over and over in her mind. The grim look in his eyes that followed immediately after, it was all she needed to know that this was absolute truth.

Natalie leaned down and pressed her lips against Sam's forehead, enabling her to take her own moment in relishing in the fact that he actually said it to her. He might not be completely coherent, but she could tell that he was being truthful. Leaning away enough for her to touch her forehead against his, Natalie breathed out a silent sigh of relief.

"I love you too." Her words were so quiet, but Sam was able to hear them since she could feel his hand on her back pull her closer to him. But, he still thought this was all apart of his imagination. That she was just this made up form he was conjuring up in his broken mind. Despite all of that, Natalie knew what was real and all of this was. And Sam would know it once he was able to actually get some rest.

"You need to sleep Sam." Natalie said as she hesitantly pulled away from him. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here."

Sam didn't give much of a fuss. He just simply rolled over to his left side, but he made sure to take a hold of Natalie's hand and he didn't loosen it. Soon, she found her arm was trapped. Sam had her in a hold and frankly, she didn't want to pull herself from it. She was tired and they had been driving for a long time before they reached the cabin. Without any regard, Natalie kicked off her boots and maneuvered herself so that she was lying behind Sam, facing his back with her arm wrapped securely around him. As Natalie slowly felt herself succumb to her exhaustion, the slight appearance of a smile tugged at her lips.

* * *

When Sam first woke up, he sucked in a slow, quiet breath, allowing it to wake up his senses. He gently opened his eyes, to a small slit and was greeted by the constant stream of sunlight that was seeping through the blinds. His body gave a small twitch and it was then that he could feel an immense weight on his right side. Sam randomly moved his right hand and could feel the softness of fabric and the physical weight of something underneath his hand. Curiously, Sam began to moved his hand up the figure, thinking that it felt like the outline of someone's back. When this came across his mind, Sam's hand reached the tussle of soft hair that was also covering his forearm.

At this, Sam forced his eyes open all the way and when he gazed down, he could see the top of someone's head. Tilting his head towards the side, Sam was actually surprised to see that it was Natalie and his hand reached up to her head and he began to gently brush at her hair. Her cheek was resting against his chest, while her right arm was nestled across his stomach, keeping her close to him.

Sam's brows knitted with confusion as he continued to brush at her hair. The events of what happened last night were coming in spastic, unclear memories, but Sam could recall seeing Natalie. Of course, in his mindset thinking that she was dead, he didn't think that what he was looking at was real. Not to mention the fact that Lucifer was taunting Sam from behind Natalie, manipulating Sam into believing that it was all fake. That Sam had actually lost Natalie.

_Nad? She was alive? She's...alive._

Sam could feel his entire body ease as a huge relieved sigh escaped his body. The relief he felt was unreal. The fact that she was actually there with him, sitting next to him and trying to keep a conversation going, Sam had to reprehend himself from waking her to ensure that _this _moment was real. But, in his moment of pure jubilant relief, Sam recalled one certain memory that hit him hard. Sam could hear the words play over in his head.

_"...I love you..."_

Sam had actually said it to her. He was beyond delirious, but he had finally told her what he really felt. _She knows now._ _At least there won't be anymore awkwardness between them and this has all been resolved. _Raising his other arm, Sam wrapped it around her, bringing her body closer to him. Her head nestled closer towards his neck and he gently rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes, hoping to relish as much of this as he could. But, the action stirred Natalie and she rubbed her cheek against his chest and her face scrunched up as she tried to wake herself up. Sam moved his chin away and titled his head back down to look at her and made a mental note at how adorable-that's not even a common word for him-Natalie was when she scrunched her face like that.

Natalie brought her hand up to her face and rubbed at her eyes. Turning a little onto her stomach, she tilted her head up, so that her cheek was resting against his shoulder and opened her eyes seeing that her face was a mere few inches away from Sam's. Their eyes locked down on each other, silently conveying to one another that this was real and that the previous night's conversation was not forgotten between them. Sam reached up and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb, sending a peaceful jolt down Natalie's spine.

Sam tugged her closer allowing their lips to brush against each other, adding a small sense tension between them in this silent, peaceful moment. Natalie's lips twitched into a small smile as she brushed her lips against Sam's, who moved his hand from her cheek to rest on the back of her neck. With that act, Sam closed the small distance, his lips coming into a soft contact with Natalie's.

Natalie could feel herself melt into him, her hand raising up to rest on the back of his neck, drawing him closer to her. Natalie couldn't help but notice that this kiss was different from the other times she kissed Sam. Before, they were fairly short and gentle. Now, Natalie could feel that the kiss was fervent, like Sam was trying to trace every second of this into his memory. Almost like he thought it was all going to disappear once they pulled away.

A loud thud from outside the room caused Natalie to give a quick jump and it effectively ended their session as they both could hear a faint "balls". Natalie slowly pulled away, her hand moving from the back of his neck to his cheek, her thumb brushing over the skin. As much as she wanted to stay here, in bed next to him, she had to get up. They still had Sam's head injury to deal with.

Natalie turned over onto her back while she reached into her pocket to get her phone, finding that it wasn't there. Turning her head to the side, she saw it sitting on the nightstand. Resting her head against the pillow for a brief moment, Natalie rolled herself towards the side of the bed and grabbed her phone, turning it on so she could see the time.

_12:30 p.m._

"Well, then..." Natalie breathed out as she set her phone back on the table and pushed herself up to her knees. Running her hands down her face, she then turned back to Sam, his eyes still on her and Natalie couldn't help but smirk at how he looked. Really, she shouldn't since he took a hard hit, but he looked so out of it, almost like he was hungover.

"You know staring isn't a polite thing to do." Natalie playfully scolded.

Sam merely shrugged. Natalie shook her head at his state as she reached forward and gently pressed her hand against his forehead.

"How are you feeling?" Natalie asked, her voice was starting to rid of the grogginess in her tone.

Sam hummed in his approval at her hand against his head. "...mmm, head...hurts..." Sam finally slurred, which made Natalie's smile falter.

"Well, you did get hit pretty hard...from what Dean told me."

Sam once again only hummed in response, feeling a little disappointed when she moved her hand away. Instead, Sam decided that it was time for him to get out of bed. He turned over and slowly swung his legs over to the edge of the bed, as if he was about to get up and Natalie was quick to act.

She sprung forward, her hands clasping down on his shoulders tugging him back. "Sam, what are you doing?"

Sam, looking a little perplexed, looked back at Natalie. "I'm...going to get up...try and walk."

"Why?" Natalie had to give Sam another tug to keep him on the bed.

"If...if I get up...then I can move around and...make myself useful."

"Sam, why? There's no need to rush yourself, we're stuck here in this house for...who knows how long. You need to take it easy..."

"No." Sam protested, though not much determination was behind it, he was still delirious. "I need to move...around."

"No, Sam you need to stay in bed, until you are able to function at one hundred percent."

"I'll be fine, Nad."

Natalie leaned back on her knees and gave an annoyed sigh, along with a shrug. "Of course, you're gonna do what you wanna do, no matter what I say, because that's _you_." Natalie moved to the edge of the bed and got off.

"I'll be fine." Sam said again, trying to reassure her.

"Yeah, we'll see." Natalie replied as she strolled over to the bedroom door and opened it. "I'm gonna see if I can get some food for you." She finished before walking out of the room, letting the door close behind her.

Now that he was alone, Sam moved his body until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands pressed down on the mattress beside him. Just moving himself towards the edge felt like a workout. His entire body was numbed with terrible aches and his head was swirling and pounding in various parts. Sam scrunched his eyes closed and let out a hiss as he felt a slow oncoming headache. Despite this, he began to muster what strength he could and tried to push himself off of the bed. Barely halfway up, Sam plopped back down on the mattress, the headache now having turned into a mass pounding.

"Okay...sit back up in bed." Sam quietly ordered himself as he slowly scooted his body towards the headboard until his back made contact with it.

Sam rested his hands in his lap and sat in silence, the only noise that was being made was from the kitchen and he knew that it was Natalie messing around in there. Once her name came across his mind, Sam's mind became flooded with chopped pieces of memories from the previous night. He tried to take each piece and get as much information from it as he could. Sam remembered waking up, still under the influence of his head injury, Bobby was carrying him into the house. At first, Sam was thought that it was a hallucination. Bobby was buried in the burnt rubble of his home, that's what Sam was convinced of.

But, as he continued to sift through his memories, Sam recalled hearing Natalie's voice during that time, but he was so out of it and her voice was so muffled and distant, he didn't register that it was her at first. Only when he was finally down on the bed, in his gray long sleeved shirt and washed out sweatpants, Natalie came strolling in did Sam recognize her voice. Their conversation was sporadic in Sam's mind, he wasn't able to piece it all together to get one clear continuous memory out of it. But, the one thing that was at the forefront of his mind was that he told her that he loved her.

That wasn't _at all _how Sam planned on telling her. Initially, Sam was going to tell Natalie at Bobby's, but of course, something came up as usual. And since he thought that she was actually gone this "hallucination" he thought he was experiencing was the only image of her that he had. And to make up for the fact that she never heard it, Sam thought that if he just said it, it would somehow make up for it all. And it sort of did. Natalie was actually there and she heard him say it and Sam remembered her saying it as well.

The door opened and Sam looked over, seeing Natalie walk into the room, only to stop under the doorway, a small smile slowly appeared on her face.

Sam slowly shook his head at her smile, knowing exactly what she was thinking. He was still in bed, where she had told him to stay and to not overexert himself. Of course he didn't listen and because of that, he didn't even make it off the bed. "And you're back so soon."

Natalie let out a laugh. "And you're still in bed." She playfully inquired. Natalie walked fully into the room and shut the door with her foot. She walked over to the bed, a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich in one hand and a bottle of water and painkillers in the other. Taking a slow seat down on the mattress, she maneuvered herself until she was sitting comfortably on the bed.

"So, how much walking did you get done?" She asked as she set the plate down in front of her.

"I...I didn't get anything done." Sam tiredly admitted, his head rested against the headboard.

"Oh." Natalie hummed as she placed her hand on his forehead again. "Well, that's good. You're still a little warm, but it's going down. So." Natalie turned her attention on the plate and picked it up, handing it towards him. "We only had enough in this place for me to make you this...lousy sandwich, but it's better than nothing."

Sam turned his head and looked at the plate, his eyes switching from the plate to Natalie before he finally took it.

"Bobby went out on a errand, to get some supplies to stock this place up. Also..." She picked up the bottle of painkillers. "Good thing I had these in my bag. You're gonna take two of these when you get done eating so..." Natalie motioned at the plate. "Get to eating."

Sam let out a breathy laugh. "Yes, ma'am."

Natalie placed the pill bottle on the bed and then rested her back against the headboard, turning to the side so that she was facing Sam and pulled her knees up to her chest. She watched in silence as Sam tore the sandwich into smaller pieces and slowly ate them, wincing every once in a while as he chewed.

But, her eyes on him was a distraction and when he looked over at her, he could see the slight amused look on her face. "You know...you can start a conversation so that you're not just watching me eat." Sam said, his mouth full of food.

"Okay..." Natalie rested her head against the headboard. "How much are you...remembering from the past few days?"

Sam chewed the rest of his food and then swallowed. "Well, the night that you and Bobby encountered that Leviathan at the hospital, it's all clear in my mind. It's everything that happened yesterday, I'm still behind on. So...maybe you could fill in the spaces for me."

"Right, um." Natalie looked up in thought and pursed her lips to the side. "So, Bobby and I were at the house when the Leviathan's were setting the house of fire, but we got out...hid out at one of his cabins. He got word that you and Dean were at Sioux Falls General and of course, we had to get you both out of there."

Sam nodded in his agreement.

"So, we got you both out and we drove all the way out here..."

"And where is here?" Sam asked as he placed another piece of the sandwich in his mouth.

"Whitefish, Montana."

Sam paused his chewing for a moment to raise his brows. "Creative name for a town."

Natalie let out a laugh. "Yeah, I know. But, we're a good distance away from Sioux Falls so...we're good. Anyway, we got here, Bobby got you into the room and then you started kind of...freaking out when I came in and then I just...stayed with you. And you just...talked."

Sam looked over at her as he tore off another piece from the sandwich. "What did I say?"

Natalie tried to refrain herself from smiling. "You were just talking, actually, you were repeating the conversation you and I had at Bobby's, before I left for the hospital."

"Oh."

"You don't remember any of this?" Natalie asked, hoping that if he did remember it, she could force him to say it again.

"It's all in fragments, I can't really make out what I was saying, but I do see bits of seeing you...sitting next to me."

Natalie silently nodded. "You didn't think I was real. You were talking to me like I was just a figment of your imagination."

Sam looked down at his half eaten sandwich and nodded. "I really thought you were gone Nad. And, the fact that my head isn't really top notch right now, I thought I was just seeing...what I wanted to see."

"I know. That's why I didn't really try to convince you that I was real. I knew it was just a product of your head being messed up, so I just, went with it. Acted like we were having that conversation all over again."

Sam occupied himself with tearing his sandwich into pieces when he couldn't help the faint smile that appeared. "I do remember one thing that I said to you."

"Yeah?" Natalie drew out the word, long enough for him to know that she had him hooked.

Sam half smiled and let out a breath, nodding to himself. "I told you that...I love you." Sam kept his eyes off of her, feeling his face beginning to grow warm from feeling flustered. He had not said that to anyone, not since Jess. In all honesty, it felt almost new for him again. Like he was experiencing it all over again, from the beginning. Finally, Sam looked over at Natalie and was only greeted by a huge smile from her.

"What?" Sam asked, looking a little taken back from her expression.

Natalie shook her head. "Nothing. But, you did. And I'll be honest, I didn't believe it at first. Because, your head and with the injury you got, I thought it was just making you say things. But, I could tell, you meant it."

Sam nodded. "I did, Nad. I was gonna tell you at Bobby's, I really was, but my head just got the better of me."

"Lucifer." Natalie offered, quite hesitantly.

"Not only him, but me as well. I just kind of, shut down once Jody called and I just...I couldn't tell you after that. I think it was because I was being doubtful about it...deep down. That's why I refrained from telling you."

"Well, I don't blame you. You've had your experiences with relationships, affected how you perceived future ones. I understand."

"Yeah." Sam picked at what was left of his sandwich, now having lost his appetite. "My relationship with Jess really was the beginning of it all."

Natalie pursed her lips together, pulling her knees closer to her chest, debating silently whether she should ask this question, but she couldn't stop herself. "What was she like?"

Sam looked over at Natalie. "Who?"

"Jess." Natalie immediately regretted asking the question. The look on Sam's face turned somber and she felt guilty, instantly, for making him remember a painful part of his life and also, she was asking him about a past relationship. _Isn't that something you're not supposed to do? _Natalie thought to herself. But, despite all of this, Natalie was very surprised when Sam continued.

"Jess." Sam felt a faint smile cross his face. "I haven't really talked about her in a while."

"You don't have to...if you don't want to. I really shouldn't have asked you."

"No, it's fine Nad." Sam assured her. "Well, I met her when I went to Stanford..."

"You went to Stanford?" Natalie asked, her brows raised faint surprise.

"Yeah." Sam answered. "That's right, I never told you about that. I really hated the life that I grew up in, constantly on the road, changing schools every few weeks or so, my dad was hardly ever there. I just hated it. I wanted out. So, I got out. Got into Stanford and I left."

"That must've not set well with your dad and Dean."

"It didn't." Sam shook his head at the memory, the night he left. It was one that had been buried in the back of his mind and it would only show itself on a rarity. "My dad was pissed and I knew Dean was to, but, I needed to get out."

Natalie nodded in her own agreement.

"I didn't really have any contact with them, my dad and Dean. I didn't call them or anything. I was living my life and then Jess came into the picture. She was caring, nice, was really easy to be friends with. She always had this open mind about everything. But, I think the one thing that really drew me to her was that she was supportive and understanding. You know, I left my dad and Dean, without much support from them and then she comes along and..."

"I understand. So, what happened between you two?"

Sam pressed his lips into a thin line. "Dean showed up, out of nowhere, told me that our dad had been missing after leaving for a hunt. And I went with him, to go find him. We ended up in Jericho where my dad was looking into a case, before he disappeared. We got done with it and Dean wanted to go on with the search, but I needed to get back to school. I give him props, you know, he took me back and..." Sam's voice tapered off, his teeth digging into his bottom lip as the memory flooded back.

Natalie kept her body tense, feeling guilty for having asked him the question. Clearly this was something Sam hasn't dwelled on it in quite sometime and there was a great reason for it.

"She was dead." Sam managed to finally mutter out the words, not wanting to go into the full detail of what he saw that night. "And after that, I had nothing left back at Stanford. I had this image of what kind of life I wanted and she was apart of that and when she was gone...I had no motivation to continue with that route. So, I left with Dean and...here we are."

"I'm sorry." Natalie finally said, after she had been able to absorb all of the information he had just loaded onto her.

"For what?" Sam asked, genuinely confused.

"You didn't deserve all of that and neither did Jess. I'm going to give you credit though Sam, you were able to branch out all on your own. I mean, leaving your only family at eighteen, got yourself into Stanford on your own when you had to change schools so frequently. I mean, you made a life for yourself. I don't think most hunters would've been able to really do what you did."

"I was oblivious to it all. I actually thought that I could leave that life, the life of being a hunter, behind. And I never told Jess about any of that, I kept it all from her. I probably should've just been truthful with her."

"You were just trying to protect her."

"Even when I thought that I was protecting her, it didn't do any good in the end. That's why with you...I was so hesitant at first."

Natalie loosened the hold her arms hand around her legs and she pursed her lips together. "Listen, I can see that you still hold guilt over what happened to her. But, Sam, you always told me, after my dad, my mom and my brother died, you always said that it wasn't my fault. Those two years after my dad died, before I met you, I had been living with this mindset that I was responsible for my his death. I witnessed it and I didn't do anything to stop it."

"Because you couldn't."

"Exactly. It's the same with you."

"Not necessarily."

Natalie's brows knitted together. "What do you mean?"

"Before Jess died, I had nightmares about it and I just brushed them off."

"Okay. But, it's because you thought of them as nothing more than just nightmares."

"I still could've taken it more seriously. From the life that I grew up in, something like that shouldn't be something that I just brush off."

"Jess, in her case, it is different from anything else. But, you still couldn't have known that something like that would happen. There's only so much you can do to protect someone. You can't control fate, as much as we may want to."

"Even though that's the truth, you can't really help yourself from feeling guilty or trying to find a way to avert it."

Natalie silently shrugged. "Well, it's human nature. We don't want to have to lose people that we love."

Sam silently nodded and he actually felt like some weight had been lifted. Sam _never _talked about Jess. It was a subject both he and Dean avoided at all costs. Dean never brought it up and neither did Sam. And as painful as it is, to look back on it, talking does do wonders. "And what about you?" Sam asked, looking over at her. "What's your experience?"

Natalie turned so that her back was leaned back up against the headboard and rested her head against it. Her eyes became glued on the ceiling allowing her and Sam to simmer in a thick silence.

"You don't have to tell me Nad..."

"No." Natalie quietly interrupted. "It's only fair, I mean you told me about Jess." Letting out a breath, Natalie tried to prepare herself for the humiliation that she was bound to feel once she told Sam the story.

"When I moved to Iowa, I made a few friends at my school and one of them was this boy and we became really close friends. All through junior high and into high school."

Sam nodded at her statement. "To me that sounds like the beginning of a typical relationship during school."

Sam could see the faint outline of a smile that began to cross her lips. "Yeah, it actually was. Well, by the time we were freshman, I guess you could say I developed the typical school girl crush on this guy. And he actually wasn't that bad looking either."

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie could see Sam's expression change and when she turned to him, his brows were knitted together and had a look on his face that seemed to ask "seriously?". Natalie could only laugh at it.

"Sorry. Just saying." She lightly defended, but she saw Sam's expression disappear, telling her that he wasn't being to serious. "Anyway, I had this crush on him, but I thought that he wouldn't want to be with someone like me, so I just kinda brushed it off."

Sam gave Natalie a curious look. "Why wouldn't he be interested in you? Why kind of teenager were you?" His curiosity sparked at the last question.

Natalie's small smile turned into a bright grin that was followed by a laugh as she looked at him, knowing exactly where he was going. "I wasn't a brainiac or a 'nerd' if that's what you're thinking, but I was shy and quiet. If I had a class where none of my friends were there, I kept to myself and did my work. Never tried to talk with anyone."

She paused to wait for Sam's acceptance of her answer, which was given in the form of a nod.

"But, Sophomore year, I had a biology class with this guy and we always sat together, we were each other's lab partners. And then one day, he just asked me out and of course I said yes. And It was a...good relationship. The summer after sophomore year, I went on a hiking trip with him and his family. He was a great."

Natalie trailed off as she began to recollect the memories of what happened after that trip. As far as she can remember, that was when it all seemed to start to go wrong.

"But..." Natalie sighed out. "It was the last week of the hiking trip when he started to bring up the subject of...sex." Natalie made sure to quiet her voice towards the end. "The more I think about it, that's when it all started to go wrong. But, he would talk about it, not in the sense that he was telling me we should, it was just general talking on the subject. I told him to not think too much into it because it wasn't going to happen and he would back off...only for a little bit. And then he would bring it back up again."

Natalie could feel her body give a shake from a chill that ran down her spine. At the time, when he would talk to her about It, Natalie didn't really seem to notice anything off about it. It was her first real relationship. She has admitted to herself several times that she had no idea really what the hell she was doing. It was a learning experience for her.

"For _weeks _he talked about it and as it got close for school to start he started to say that it wouldn't be a bad thing, if we did. And I always told him no. But, he got into my head. I started thinking about it a lot. Whether it was the choice if I had sex with him or not. But, it was just a few weeks into the school year and he asked if we..." Already Natalie could feel herself becoming humiliated. She really didn't need to actually say it, She knew that Sam was more than aware of what she was going to say.

"Asked if we could..." Natalie paused once again, not even able to bring herself to say it. "And I said yes." Natalie decided to go past the task of physically saying it. "I didn't even think about. I took no time to really decide if I wanted to, it was just...yes. And after that, things just took a turn for the worse. He became a lot more...clingy? I guess is the word. He would get so upset when I would do something that didn't involve him."

Sam's face contorted into confusion and surprise.

"And we got into arguments about it. God, Sam I can't even bring myself to say all that happened between him and I. But, he wanted control over me and...he got it. That's where the whole 'meaningless sex' comes from because...that's what it turned into." Natalie sucked in a breath that stung at her throat. The lump was becoming hard to keep down and the sting in her eyes were signaling the oncoming tears.

"Did he ever hurt you, physically?" Sam couldn't help himself from how cold his voice sounded. This was, of course, all news to him and to think that Natalie went through something like that, it pissed him off. But, there was still an underlining to his question and Natalie knew that Sam was trudging more towards something other than just physical abuse.

"No. He never did...but, whenever he wanted it...he got it." Natalie cringed at her words, already feeling the tears break through. "Wow. I really stooped low didn't I? I never refused him. He always made me feel like complete shit. But, I never left. I never broke it off."

"Why not?"

Natalie looked over at Sam, shaking her head. "I guess, I felt like I had an obligation to try and make it work. Every time we fought he always made it seem like it was my fault. That because I wasn't making time for him, _I_ was ruining the relationship... and I believed it. So, I felt it upon myself to make it work. But, that just made us grow distant, we got into more arguments whenever we were together. And by the time Junior year ended, he wanted us to take a break. He wanted us to see other people, but he could still come back to me. But, I told him no. If we break it off then we break it off for good. I'm wasn't going to let him use me anymore like some toy."

Her voice cracked at the end and Natalie quickly wiped at the tears in her eyes before they were able to break free. "And he got pissed at me. And just ended it right then, left me to sit in the dust. A part of me was happy though, because I clearly didn't have the strength to leave him, because I really thought that...I loved him."

A silence permitted between them both, allowing Sam to try and come to terms with what Natalie had just told him. And Natalie was having a hard time believing that she just told him all of this.

"Nad." Sam finally said, after the silent session. "I don't even know...what to say."

"Don't say anything." Natalie's voice broke. "I can't believe I told you...that was something that I vowed to never tell anyone."

"Why?" Sam went to wrap his arm around her, but when he did, Natalie gently pushed his arm away.

"No, Sam. Just..." Natalie moved to the side of the bed and stood up."Why?" Natalie repeated and let out a wet scoff. Standing at the foot of the bed, she shrugged. "Because I felt so _disgusted _with myself." Her hand pressed against her chest. "Why would I let myself go through that? Why would I let some guy have control over me? I regret it so much. I wish that I could take it back and do it differently. But, I can't. And what I went through was my fault."

"How was it your fault?" Sam's question sounded so surprised and a little upset that Natalie looked over at him with wide eyes. "This was something out of your control."

"No, it wasn't." Natalie shook her head, a new round of tears spilling out. "I could've prevented some of it. I knew when the relationship was falling apart, I knew that what he was doing to me, wasn't right. But, I never left. If I had just, left him, broke off the relationship early on...I wouldn't have gone through all of that. It's on me."

Natalie could feel herself finally begin to break,her bottom lip trembled which prompted Natalie to sink down into a chair that was settled next to the door. "And I hate myself so much for what happened. And I didn't want to tell you any of it, because..." Natalie's sentence was cut off by a small sob. "...because I thought you would think less of me." She buried her face in her hands, feeling incredibly silly for crying like this.

Sam moved the plate on his lap over to the night stand next to him. Moving his legs over the side of the bed, he braced his hands against the mattress and slowly pushed himself up onto his feet. Standing there for a moment, trying to reorient himself after a dizzy spell, Sam slowly sauntered over to Natalie and knelt down in front of her.

"Nad." Sam spoke, but Natalie didn't look at him, she only continued to hide her face from him. Sam raised his hands and gently grasped her wrists. "Nad, come on, look at me." Sam gently pulled her hands away from her face, seeing that her palms were wet from her tears. She kept her head down, not wanting to give in and look up at him. Framing her face with his hands, Sam tilted her head up until her red, swollen eyes were finally on him.

Sam took a quick assessment over her features. Swollen red eyes were starting to brim with new tears and Sam thumbed away the ones that managed to escape.

"Nad, you can't blame yourself for what happened. You had no idea that he would turn out to be some pathetic asshole." Sam's tone turned hard towards the end.

Natalie silently shook her head, her eyes looked like they were beginning to sag from the distress that Sam was detecting from her. "I was so stupid Sam. I was so unbelievably stupid. I just should've..."

Sam gently tugged Natalie towards him, allowing her to rest her head against his shoulder and rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Nad. It's okay. "

Natalie closed her eyes, exhaling a heavy sigh. "It's not okay, Sam. I should've been smarter...and I should've just told someone..."

Sam's body went tense, but he continued with his soothing rubs. "You never told anyone about it?"

"No. Not my mom, or Mari. Not even Aunt Clara." Natalie then let out a wet laugh. "And I definitely never told my dad or brother. No one knew about it...except you. You're the only one."

"Why didn't you ever say anything? To your mom or sister?"

Natalie feebly wrapped her arms around Sam, ensuring that she was kept close to him. "I didn't want to be a disappointment to them."

"I'm sure they would've understood, Nad." Sam answered honestly.

"I can't do anything about it now. I'm really good at not doing what the right thing is. I mean I stayed in that crappy relationship."

"Hey, come on." Sam gave her a small squeeze. "Stop beating yourself up over it. Nad you had no idea that would happen. And if it was your first _real _relationship, you had no idea what to expect or how to handle certain situations. This is _not _on you. And if you think it makes me think less of you...it doesn't."

"You say that a lot." Natalie inquired lightly.

Sam allowed a small smile to appear. "Because it's the truth Nad."

Natalie smiled, tiredly, but she could feel Sam's stance was beginning to falter. He shouldn't be out of bed right now and he only did so because she was crying her eyes out, which made her feel completely exhausted at the moment. But, she remained in her position, cheek laying against his shoulder, arms wrapped in a weak hold around him and his soothing rubs against her back were helping calm her. Inhaling a deep breath, her body relaxed in Sam's hold and Natalie gently pulled herself away from Sam, bracing her hands on his shoulders to help keep him balanced.

"You shouldn't have gotten out of bed." Natalie quietly commented.

"I couldn't just leave you to sulk in this chair alone."

Natalie genuinely smiled, which Sam was glad to see at the moment. "Come on. Get back in the bed." Natalie stood up from the chair, took a hold of Sam's arm and helped him back up onto his feet.

Although, Sam was determined to walk to the best himself, which he did, despite the fact that he would sway from side to side. He had to admit, he was getting fairly annoyed with how dizzy he was. Sam gently lowered himself back onto the bed just as Bobby knocked and opened the door. Natalie and Sam both looked over at him, Bobby pointed out towards the kitchen. "What do you two want for dinner?"

Natalie simply stared at Bobby and then shrugged. "I don't care. I can help make it if you want." He didn't really seem to notice Natalie's red, swollen eyes. But, Natalie knew that once she was out there in the kitchen with him, he would notice it.

"Fine, by me. How you feeling Sam?" Bobby asked, gesturing towards him.

Sam gave a lazy shake of the head and exhaled. "I think I'm as good as I'm going to be right now."

"Not the most satisfying answer, but it'll have to do." Bobby motioned for Natalie to follow. "Alright, Nad, let's go see if we can destroy the kitchen."

Natalie smiled and gave her nod of compliance. Bobby turned out of the room as Natalie looked back down at Sam, "Just rest. Also...thank you for listening."

Sam looked up at Natalie, giving her a half smile. "You listened to me, so it really isn't something you have to thank me for."

Natalie leaned down and placed a quick kiss against his forehead, her hand momentarily brushed through his hair, feeling that it was massively tangled in some places. _He really needed to take a shower._ Pulling away, Natalie brushed her thumb against his cheek.

"Oh, by the way, your hair really is a mess right now." Natalie inquired as she began to walk towards the door, but she made sure to keep her eye on Sam, whose reaction was priceless.

His brows knitted together, mouth parted and he looked almost genuinely offended, but Natalie could tell that Sam knew she was just trying to poke at him. "Then I'm gonna have to take a shower soon." Sam lightly retorted.

"Not right now you aren't." Natalie finalized, giving Sam a light-hearted stare.

As she turned towards the door, Sam's voice, once again, stopped her in her tracks. "Nad?" Natalie paused and turned to look at Sam.

"You know that I would never do _that _to you, right?"

Natalie allowed her gaze to drop at the subject he was poking at. She knew that Sam would _never _do something like that to her. He would never try to forcibly take control of her life or make her feel so used. She knew this. What she experienced in high school was hopefully the _only _time she would have to go through a horrible relationship. But, it was still reassuring to hear him say it and knowing that he meant it.

"I know."

* * *

**And I am going to stop there for now. So, what did you all think?! Not really the typical way someone confesses their love for another, I know. But, I had several different scenarios written out for the love confession and I don't know, this one just seemed to stick out more to me. So next chapter we will be meeting Dean's future love interest and someone else will return! **

**Review Responses:**

**Ladysunshine6: **It was really good to be back, especially after the hell I went through with chapter 2! And I hope you like this chapter!

**Marieniz V: **AHH HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR YOU! I hope that I was able to deliver for you all!

**Fyen: **I am so glad you like the chapter and I hope you like this one as well! And thank you! Sometimes I do have a hard time incorporating Natalie to some scenes, but I manage my way!

**Marloweee1856: **I am glad you're liking the longer chapters! I'm pretty sure from now on, there will be nothing but long chapters HA! I KNOW THE FEELS ARE UNREAL BETWEEN THESE TWO! I hope I was able to somewhat kill you with it this chapter. Nad and Jody are definitely a lot of fun to write together and I hope I'm able to put Jody into my story more than she is on the show, but we will have to see. And Bobby and Nad...oh man my heart hurts just thinking about it. It is honestly going to be so painful writing Nad's reaction to his death. And the car scene was one of my favorite things to write. I love writing badass!nad! And with Caden, you will just have to wait and see...

**Sarahmichellegellarfan1: **Glad you liked the last chapter! And I really hope you like this one! It has been a long time coming.

**Soul's Companion: **I am so glad I'm hitting you all with the feels! That is my goal! HA! Sam/Nad they are just adorable, aren't they?

**January Lily: **Writing Caden and Elle would be one of the most epic things ever! HAHA! I know, I know, the feels are just to much when it comes to these two. Fangirl with me! I am right there with you!

**Guest: **Glad you loved the chapter and I hope this one settles your Sam/Nad cravings! And Sam and Nad will have sex, sometime in the near future, but it won't be a full out, detailed scene. It will just be implied they slept together.


	4. Let's Go Down To Omaha

_A/N: Here I have the next chapter for you all! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter since we got a some Satalie feels! ANYWAYS. This chapter you will all get to meet a new character who will be Dean's eventual love interest and I do hope that you all will fall in love with her. And someone else will be coming back in this chapter! Also I am so sorry for these long waits. I hope to pick up the pace, not that it's summer break!_

_So. What did you all think about that finale?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

The three weeks were spent being cooped up in the cabin. For the first half, the four of them laid low, not leaving the house to do anything. Bobby had already bought enough supplies the second day they were there. It was enough to last them for a while. Then, towards the last half, Bobby started to leave the house, his first task was to get the Impala and Natalie's car back to the cabin, which required some help from David and Jake. But, Bobby made sure to tell the others to stay put and not do anything, which wouldn't be much of a problem. Dean's broken leg meant that he couldn't do pretty much anything. Therefore, he was rather content to just sit on the couch and watch t.v. all day. While Sam and Natalie spent much of the time shutting themselves away in the bedroom.

This actually caught both Bobby and Dean's attention. There was something different going on between Sam and Natalie, they sure were acting different. During the first few days of Sam's recovery, Natalie spent most of her time in the room with him. She never came out, only to get water or something to eat. This didn't really bother Dean and Bobby, since to them, it seemed just normal. She was watching over Sam, which meant she was going to be staying with him a majority of the time. But, they both remained in that room and most of the time, nothing could be heard from them, only the occasional mumbling. When Sam started to get up and walk around the place, Bobby and Dean got a first hand look, well more Dean then Bobby, of this new interaction between Sam and Natalie.

They were always near each other, hardly saying anything to each other, But, it wasn't like before when they were all awkward. It was different now. Dean could only hope that they somehow managed to work out whatever was going on between them. Only when Dean finally confronted Natalie did he get an answer.

….

_Natalie pulled two water bottles from the fridge and gently closed the door. Turning around, she held the bottles to her chest, her eyes examining Dean, who was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. As her eyes glanced down, she aimlessly walked over to the bedroom door._

_Dean paused and looked over at Natalie, seeing how she was trying to avoid any kind of eye contact with him and this made him narrow his vision in curiosity. "Hey." _

_Dean's voice stopped Natalie in her tracks. Natalie mentally cursed, she was right at the door with her hand on the door knob. Slowly, she turned around to look at him. Dean only shrugged his shoulders up in a questioning manner. _

_"You know, you've been staking out in that bedroom for a while now. Both of you. What's going on?" _

_Natalie remained frozen in state, seeing if she could come up with some kind of excuse to get Dean off of her back because he was right. Instead, Natalie just shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just..." Natalie gestured towards the door with her head. "Just looking after Sam...you know, the usual." _

_"Uh huh." Dean was unconvinced and Natalie could see it. Her posture changed and Dean could tell that she was starting to grow uneasy with his constant staring. "Is something going on?" _

_"I don't know. Is something going on?" _

_"Don't turn that question around on me." Dean lightly retorted. _

_"I don't know what you want me to say, Dean. Can I go back in now?" _

_Dean remained silent as he continued to assess her face seeing that her mouth pursed to the side and she continuously moved her gaze away from him. "Did something happen between you and Sam?" _

_This struck something as Natalie quickly looked up at him, not able to give him any kind of response. Natalie gave him a small shrug._

_Dean could only smirk at this. "Something did happen. You and Sam finally got over yourselves?" _

_Natalie finally exhaled a sigh. "What do you want me to say Dean?" _

_Dean slowly settled against the couch, his smirk growing into a smile. "You don't have to say anything, because I already know. But, I will say that it's about damn time." _

_"Oh, shut up." Natalie turned back towards the door. "I'm going back inside." _

_"Okay." Dean replied, though Natalie could still hear the smile in his voice. "Oh by the way." _

_Natalie reluctantly turned back around to him._

_"Sometimes the best cure for anything, is a little-"_

_"Okay, Dean." Natalie interrupted and turned back towards the door, opening it._

_"I was just saying-"_

_"Yeah, no I got it." Natalie gave him a quick wave. "Thanks for the talk." She added as she disappeared into the room, shutting the door in a quick manner._

_Dean remained silent, his eyes still glued on the door and then he looked back over at the t.v. chuckling quietly as he went back to searching the channels._

…_._

Needless to say, Natalie thought that Dean would be rubbing it in everyone's faces. Surprisingly, he hasn't done that, but that doesn't mean Natalie wouldn't catch a smirk on his face whenever she would come out of the bedroom. He was being ridiculous, but, she was letting him have his "fun". He did have to put up with all of that nonsense after all.

Sam and Natalie were enjoying all of...this. The time that they spent alone was what they enjoyed the most. And all they did was talk. Sometimes about some of the most random things that would pop into their head. But, there was one thing that they both enjoyed the most and they wouldn't verbally admit it to one another. It was the fact that they had slept together, every night since they arrived. The first night, Natalie didn't really have a choice. Sam had a grip on her arm and she really didn't want to leave that. But, since then, its turned into a nightly thing for both of them. They've grown adjusted to the feeling of being next to each other

But, staying in the cabin didn't mean that the three of them forgot what was going on out there. They still had no idea where the Leviathan were located, most likely just in South Dakota, but they weren't for sure. Bobby had already made calls around to different hunters, warning them about what was going on. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll be able to distinct who was a Leviathan and who wasn't.

Bobby had managed to gather a few books, which wasn't much and Natalie, Sam and Bobby had tasked themselves to reading through them. It didn't take long until they had finished and they were left with as much information as they started with. The only new information they had managed to find was how these things came to be and a, somewhat, detailed explanation as to why God casted them into purgatory.

All the talk about Leviathans helped Natalie to spark up an idea that would potentially help them. Natalie explained to Bobby and Sam how she had a professor, Alan Bryant, back when she was in college and he was really big on biblical stories and other mythologies. But, Natalie went to college back in Massachusetts and Bobby wasn't about to let her drive all the way out there. Natalie made a quick correction that he was now living in Omaha so the drive was shorter. There was still the matter of convincing all of them to allow her to drive down there. Sam offered to go with her, but Natalie turned it down, said that Sam needed more rest. Natalie turned down Bobby's offer, she said that someone needed to watch the boys. Though, Natalie tried to ease their worries by saying she would wear some kind of disguise if it made them feel better. _Give me a scarf and some huge sunglasses, I'll be a modern day Jackie O._

She doesn't remember how, but Natalie eventually got them to agree with her, though she knew there was a lot of hesitation on their part. But, Natalie had it all planned out. She would sleep at the cabin, wake up early in the morning and take the long drive down to Nebraska. Natalie wasn't exactly looking forward to the drive, but, if it meant that they might get some more answers about this whole fiasco, then she sure as hell will do it.

...

Natalie zipped up her bag, after placing the last of the contents into it and looked over at Sam. The house was dark and quiet, with everyone still sleeping, Natalie wished that she could just crawl back into bed with Sam and go back to sleep. But, she needed to get a move on if she wanted to get this drive done with.

Picking up her bag, she slowly slipped her arms through the straps, keeping an eye on Sam, making sure she didn't wake him. Natalie tip toed towards the bedroom door, taking careful timing on opening the door, slid out and gently closed it behind her. Turning around, Dean was sprawled out on the couch and Natalie slipped in a small smile as she quietly walked past him. Once she was out the door, Natalie took easy steps down the porch stairs and when her feet touched the gravel, she began to walk at a normal pace.

Pulling out her keys, she unlocked the driver door and went to do the same for the back driver side door. Opening the door, she leaned in and placed her bag down on the back seat. Immediately, she opened the bag and searched for her sweater. It was a little chilly and she was wearing a short sleeved shirt. When her hand finally grasped the article of clothing, Natalie began to move out of the car when a voice appeared behind her.

"Nad."

Natalie reacted quickly. She jumped and her head hit the top part of the car. A small yelp escaped as her hand flew up to the back of her head. Taking a moment, Natalie then moved out of the car and turned around, seeing a groggy Sam standing behind her.

"Sam..." Natalie exhaled out a hiss. "Don't just sneak up on me like that."

"Sorry." Sam tried to make it a genuine apology, but his exhaustion seemed to just be driving the motors at the moment.

"What are you doing out here?" Natalie asked, her hand rubbing at the still sore area on her head.

"I saw you were leaving, so I thought..." Sam shrugged. "I'd come out and send you off."

"Oh." Natalie moved her hand away and allowed her arm to hang by her side. "You didn't have to. If I woke you up, I'm sorry. My plan was to just leave as quietly as possible."

"Without telling any of us."

Natalie's shoulders shrugged up, holding the position for a few seconds longer. "I didn't think I would need to. It's not like you guys don't know where I'm going."

Sam hummed and blew out a breath, which came out as a small cloud from the cold air. This made Natalie take a quick assessment of what he was wearing, a dark green long sleeved sweatshirt and another pair of old sweats that he had and then his shoes, which he took no time in tying.

"You need to be careful." Sam's words brought Natalie's attentioning out from the outfit assessment she was mentally performing. "We have no idea where the Leviathan are and no way of knowing how to test someone."

"I know. That's why I'm hoping that this won't take to long. I should be there for no longer than a day or so. Then, I'll drive right back up here."

Sam nodded, making it look like he was only half listening. He was tired and Natalie couldn't help but smile.

"You should go back inside, go back to sleep. I'll call when I get down there."

"Yeah. Sleep. That sounds really good, right now." Sam's speech was slurring and it only made Natalie laugh at his expense.

"Wish me luck." Natalie added, though she didn't really mean for him to do it.

Sam went to turn to go back in the house, when he stopped halfway. Natalie could've sworn she saw a small smirk cross his lips. Sam turned back towards her, walked closer and captured her lips in a quick kiss, which Natalie noted was a little different, since he was still half asleep.

Sam leaned away and gave her a tired smile. "Good luck."

"Are you going to be able to cope without me?" Natalie asked, but Sam could hear that she was teasing him about it.

"Yeah. I'll manage." Sam answered, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.

Natalie pouted her lips, but couldn't hold it for to long. "Try not to do too much. Just take it easy."

"I will."

This time Sam reached forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest and her head snuggled closely to him. Natalie's arms encircled around him and she smiled when she felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head.

"Be careful Nad. I'm serious." Sam said and Natalie could feel the vibration from his voice against her cheek.

"I'll be fine. Before you know it, I'll be back from Omaha. I'll be careful."

* * *

Natalie could feel her eyes begin to slowly close and she forced herself to wake up again. She was currently parked in the college lot, in front of the school where her professor was and she was tired as hell. She got to Omaha just a little over 2 a.m. and she hardly got any sleep. Probably about four hours max was all that she was able to obtain. Either way, she woke up, took a quick shower and headed out the door, and stopped by a local coffee shop to get her morning fix and hopefully, it would keep her awake.

But, how she was feeling right now, the coffee wasn't exactly doing the job it needed to. Exhaling a tired breath, Natalie brought the cup up and took a long drink from it as she opened the car door and stepped out. Placing the cup on top of the car, she tied her hair up and quickly put on one of Bobby's hats that he gave to her. After locking the door, Natalie made the quick walk from the parking lot to the main entrance.

It had been a while since she had attended college or even stepped on a college campus for that matter. But, everything she was seeing was exactly how it was back in Massachusetts. Students walking in and out of the building, some were eating lunch on the benches in the front school yard. It looked so...normal. After the life she's been living for the past few years, this scene made her feel a little weird. She was no longer use to this kind of "normalcy".

As soon as she stepped into the school, Natalie knew that she wouldn't be able to navigate through these halls. Instead, she asked someone at the security desk if they knew what room Alan Bryant would be in. Natalie was so happy that the man was more than willing to tell her. Usually, she could have expected to be serviced by someone who was in a bad mood.

Once she got the room number and some decent directions to navigate the halls, Natalie walked off into this elaborate maze, encountering groups of students who would take up, virtually, the entire hallway, forcing her to have to squeeze by. That was the one thing Natalie hated the most about school in general, not just college. People always hogging up the hall space. It annoyed her to no end.

Luckily, the room where her professor was in wasn't to far down the hall. Natalie stopped in front of room 510 and sucked in a breath, wondering if he would remember her. Probably not. Natalie grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. Looking in, she could see him talking with a student and she quietly stepped into the classroom, which Natalie immediately recognized as a lecture hall.

But, this allowed Natalie to actually get a good look at him and he still looked the same. After all, it has only been about three years, maybe four, but she could see that his dark brown hair was starting to grow gray in some areas. He wasn't that old either. Possibly late forties by now and he was already getting gray in the hair. Standing by the door, Natalie waited patiently for both of them to finish their conversation and soon the student made their quick exit. Natalie knew this was her moment to step in.

"Excuse me." Natalie stepped towards the desk, garnering the man's attention. "Professor Bryant?"

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Um." Natalie scratched at the side of her temple. "You may not remember me, but, my name is Natalie Collins and I was a student of yours a couple of years ago. I had you for two literary classes."

Alan stared intently at Natalie, trying his best to figure out if he knew her face which he did. There was something about her that was familiar and the name was starting to scratch at his memory. "Are you talking about this school?"

"No. I attended the community college up at Cape Cod."

Just the mentioning of Cape Cod seemed to have sparked the man's memory as he flashed a quick smile. "That's right. Natalie Collins, I knew the name sounded familiar. I had you in um..."

"World Mythologies and Arthurian Legends." Natalie answered for him.

"That's right. I remember now, you were one of the few students in both of those classes that actually paid attention and tried."

Natalie didn't really know how to take that. She never was complimented by her professors about how well she did in school. She never really looked for it. But, Natalie flashed a quick smile. "Well, you made the subjects very interesting. It was kind of hard not to pay attention."

"It's been a while hasn't it. God, I'd say...over three years, possibly longer. So, how's the family?"

Natalie paused from saying anything and licked at her lips in hesitation. "Um. It's been kind of difficult the past few years."

Alan's cheery smile faltered when he saw the look on Natalie's face drop from his question. He didn't mean to bring down their reunion."Oh. I'm sorry about that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna make you go into detail."

Natalie nodded in her relief.

Alan pressed his hands down on his desk. "So, what can I help you with?"

"Okay, this may sound a little...weird at first, but, I'm gonna need you to just bear with me, alright?"

Alan gave her a quick nod.

"Okay. I understand that you had a great interest in biblical studies. I was wondering if you knew anything about a species called the Leviathan."

Alan raised his brows, but he didn't seem at all confused by her question. In fact, he looked a little excited to be able to do something like this. "What's this for?"

"Um. Just a little...project thing that I'm working on."

"Right, well. I'm more than happy to help. Unfortunately, I don't have my books on me, but if you want, we can go down to the library and see what they have."

"Sounds good to me."

Alan gathered up a few binders from his desk and motioned for Natalie to follow him. Once they were out in the hallway, that was when he decided to try and spark up some conversation.

"So, what have you been up to since I left? Education wise?"

Natalie adjusted her hat and pursed her lips to the side. She wasn't exactly expecting him to dig up a conversation about her education. Though, she should've seen it coming. He's a damn professor. "Well, after you left, I got myself into nursing school. But, I dropped out after a year."

"Really? You don't seem like the kind of person who would drop from school."

"Yeah, well..." Natalie slowly rubbed at the back of her neck. "There was some...personal issues that were going on at the time and school just kind of...slipped my interest."

Alan nodded quietly. "Fair enough. So, you have a job anywhere?"

"Right. Job. That thing." Natalie smiled. "Um. The whole job thing is a little bit...difficult to explain. But, to sum it up, I travel around and...help people."

"Oh." Alan replied enthusiastically. "Sounds like a good thing then."

"Yeah." Natalie's smile soon turned forced as she thought about the truth behind it all. "It really is a great thing."

They made it out of the hallway where his classroom was located and made a quick right down a shorter hallway and the library was right ahead.

"So, you still living up in Massachusetts?"

Natalie shook her head. "No. My dad moved us to Iowa when I was ten, but my I went back for college. And how have you liked living here in Omaha? It must've been a big change from living near the Cape."

"You have no idea." Alan laughed. "You get used to living on the coast and then you move to the middle of the country, practically. But, it's been good. I've adjusted fairly well."

"I can still hear that accent though." Natalie commented lightly.

"Can't really shed something like that." Alan flashed a quick smile as they finally made it to the school's library. Natalie made sure to smile back as she walked through the door that he was holding open for her.

Natalie followed Alan towards a section of the library that was all based on mythologies and religious studies. Natalie couldn't help but smirk at the thought of him spending some hours, reading whatever books in the shelves interested him. He almost kind of reminded Natalie of what Sam might be like when he reaches the same age. The whole reading and research is something that both Alan and Sam had in common.

Alan placed his binders down on one of the small tables that was positioned near the shelf and let out a content sigh. "So. What exactly do you need to know about the Leviathan?"

Natalie slid off her hat and tossed it down on the table. "Basically. As much as you can give me."

"Well..." Alan began to skim through the titles on the bindings of the books. "From what I can tell you on the top of my head, a Leviathan is described as a sea monster."

Natalie took a moment to run through his words and then her brows knitted together. "A sea monster?"

"Yep." Alan replied as he pulled out a book, something on mythological beings, Natalie didn't exactly get the title of the book. He set down the book on the table and flipped through the pages until he reached the chapter on the creature.

"In the Old Testament, a Leviathan is in reference to a sea creature. Mythologies from the East and even Judaism, believed that a dragon like creature lived in the depths of the oceans."

Alan flipped to another page where the picture of an etching was located. Natalie studied the picture quickly, seeing a huge serpent who was being defeated by a figure that looked like God.

"Now, later in Christianity, they associated the Leviathan as the image of Satan. The creature was thought to have endangered God's creations, basically, by eating them. Eventually, it was even classified as Envy, by Peter Binsfeld."

_Now this is starting to sound a little familiar. _

Alan paused and looked over at Natalie, who was still reading through the pages, with the most confused look on her face. "I'm guessing this information isn't helping?"

"No, it's just." Natalie pursed her lips together. "The Leviathan I was told about, by..." Natalie paused as she stopped herself from mentioning Death. That would have been very awkward. "By a friend of mine. He said that the Leviathan were also called the Old Ones and that God created them before anything else-even the angels. And they became too dangerous. So, God created Purgatory to keep them away."

"The Old Ones." Alan repeated, his brows raising high.

"You heard about them."

"Yes, but, the information written on them is very scant. But, the Old Ones derived from people who take the name of Leviathan and believe that the creature is something else. Many created their own idea of what the Leviathan was and what it represented. But, the Old Ones, from the books that I've looked through here, there is hardly anything on them."

Alan turned back to the shelf and quickly pulled out a few more books before setting them back down on the table. "Maybe there's something that I might've missed."

Natalie took it upon herself to pull one of the books over to her and began to flip through the pages.

"Hi?"

Natalie and Alan both looked up at the sound of a female voice and Natalie came face to face with a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair that turned into curls at the end and bangs that just touched her eyebrows. A blue scarf was wrapped around her neck and a beige coat engulfed her body and stopped mid-thigh.

The woman only greeted Natalie with a bright smile that emanated her features. "Sorry." The woman pointed between Natalie and Alan. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No. No, we were just looking for some information." Alan lightly answered to which the woman nodded as her lips pursed, still keeping the smile evident.

"Uh, Natalie." Alan began which prompted Natalie to look over at him. "This is my niece Alex Hayes. Alex, this is Natalie Collins, she was a former student of mine."

_He has a niece? _

Natalie and Alex then locked eyes on each other as their hands extended towards one another, locking in a relaxed hold.

"It's nice to meet you Natalie." Alex greeted and it only seemed to make her smile grow more.

"Nice to meet you too, Alex." Natalie replied with her own smile. She certainly wasn't used to seeing someone like this.

Their hands finally dropped from each other's holds and Alex stuck her hands into her coat pockets. But, she stepped closer to the table and looked down at one of the open books. Pulling it towards her, she read out one of the passages and raised her brows. "It says God will break the head of the Leviathan into pieces before giving the flesh to the people of the wilderness." Alex made a face and pursed her lips together. "Mmmm. That sounds so good. Tasty sea serpent meat for dinner. Such a novelty dish."

Natalie couldn't help but smile at Alex's words and she looked over at Alan, seeing him roll his eyes lightly.

"Alex likes to make light fun out of almost anything. She think she's the funniest person."

Alex looked up at Alan, her expression making it look like she was offended. "Excuse you, but I am the funniest person. My sense of humor is impeccable."

_Dean would be quick to argue with you about who's the funniest person. He would nominate himself. _Natalie thought to herself.

"Says you." Alan jokingly retorted.

Alex shrugged and looked back down at the book. "You're just jealous." She finished, but it wasn't taken seriously since Alex let out her own laugh. "You two looking on information about the Leviathan. Why?"

"Uh. Natalie needed some help on the subject." Alan, who had returned to searching through one of the books, mentioned over at the hunter.

"Oh." Alex looked over at Natalie. "What is it for exactly?"

"Uh. Just a personal project that I'm working on." Natalie answered, but Alex seemed a little skeptical. But, she accepted the reasoning and Natalie as glad for that. The one thing she didn't need was for Alex to start poking around with the subject.

"Well, I actually came here because my uncle and I had dinner plans together." Alex said. "But, I can see that you two are busy."

Alan paused, his hands still pressed down on the pages and he slowly closed his eyes. "Right. I'm sorry, I seemed to have forgotten about that. I was just..." He motioned down at the books on the table.

"It's completely fine. I kinda figured when I saw you two hunched over here at the table that you would be here for a while." Alex answered truthfully and Natalie actually had a difficult time determining whether she was really upset or not.

If there was a hint of her being disappointed, then Alan could sense it with such ease as he offered his niece a sympathetic smile. "Maybe you can take Natalie with you."

"What?" Both girls asked.

"I mean, I can't make the dinner with you, maybe you could take Natalie. I'm going to be working with the books all night, try and find some info for you. It'll take me a while."

"Uncle Alan, don't try and make this girl go with someone she doesn't even know." Alex argued on Natalie's behalf.

But, Natalie tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. "No. I will." She spoke up, seeing the surprised look on Alex's face. "I mean, you said that it'll take you some time and I have no intention of leaving so soon. And, plus, I got nothing to do so...why not?"

Alex seemed genuinely surprised as she and Alan shared a quick glance. "Okay." Alex replied, the enthusiasm that came from it only made Natalie smile again. "If you're up for it, then so am I."

"I'll continue with the reading, see if there is anything new that I can find on what we were talking about." Alan offered as the girls got ready to leave.

"Okay." Natalie picked up the pen that was sitting next to his binder and wrote down her number on a blank piece of paper that was sticking out of the binder. "Just call me when you find something."

"Will do. You two have fun."

* * *

Natalie was starting to think why she agreed to go with Alex. When they left the school, Natalie told Alex that she wanted to go back to the hotel so she could change. Alex agreed and followed Natalie so that they could take her car. But, the whole drive to the motel, Natalie was thinking why she agreed. One, she felt really guilty that she ruined their plans for tonight. That wasn't her intention and if she had known about it, she would've visited Alan the next day.

But, when Natalie got into Alex's car, she knew there was no room for her to try and get out of this. And that made Natalie feel like a real asshole. She then made herself promise that she would have a good time with Alex and in the end, Natalie didn't have to act like she was having a good time. Alex was, genuinely, an entertaining person to be around and she cracked jokes with Natalie like she had never seen before. And Natalie thought Dean was the joke enthusiast, Alex almost has him beat, in Natalie's opinion at least.

When they arrived in downtown Omaha, Alex wanted her and Natalie to walk for a while. She thought that going right into dinner would make it seem to much like a first date. That was the first thing to come out of Alex's mouth during this event that amused Natalie. But, she wasn't going to argue about walking. They started up by this art museum, made their way down the center of the city and walked passed another museum before turning back around to head towards the restaurant.

During their walk, Natalie and Alex exchanged very little information about each other. One thing that stuck with Natalie was that Alex went to New York for college and changed her degree several times before finally landing on business management. Natalie admitted to herself though that she felt a little inferior to Alex. She went through with her entire education, while Natalie dropped out of nursing school after just one year. Natalie could defend that she dropped out because of what happened to her dad, but she wasn't sure if that was a viable excuse. Either way, if Natalie had gone through with her nursing education, she probably wouldn't have worked in a hospital for to long. She was always going to be a hunter. That's how Natalie viewed it.

When they finally made it to the restaurant, Natalie was beyond happy. She hadn't eaten anything and the only thing she had sitting in her stomach was coffee. Alex and Natalie both ordered their meals: Alfredo pasta for Natalie and a BLT for Alex.

"You know you didn't really have to agree to this." Alex took the straw out of its wrapping and dipped it in her glass. "Don't let my uncle trick you into doing something you don't want to do."

"No, it's fine really." Natalie said after taking a drink from her glass. "Besides, I felt a little guilty. I didn't mean to ruin any plans that you two had."

"You don't need to apologize." Alex replied sincerely. "I'm used to it actually. Not saying he's a terrible uncle, but, he's busy. Most of the time we never get to do much together."

Natalie nodded, thinking back to her dad and how absent he was. It wasn't exactly like Alex's situation, but it was similar. The feeling is the same. "I kinda know what that's like."

"So, he said that you were a former student of his. I'm guessing that you didn't go to the college here."

"No. I, uh, went to a community college up at Cape Cod."

"Oh, back when he had the job in Massachusetts. So, I'm guessing you were born there." Natalie nodded. "I was to. But, my parents moved us to Rhode Island when I was one, so, memories of Massachusetts are pretty nonexistent. But, I was already staying with him during that time, when you were at college there."

Natalie nodded, remembering that this was something she was curious about. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but, I don't remember him saying that he had a niece before."

Alex smacked her lips together. "Yeah. He and my mom weren't exactly close when it came to being brother and sister. I mean, they didn't hate each other, they just...never really saw each other."

"So, what made you go and live with him? If you don't mind me asking."

"My parents died."

Natalie could feel her face grow numb and when Alex looked down at her drink, Natalie was finally able to move her features. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry."

Alex slowly shook her head and finally looked back up. "It was when I was seventeen and they were driving home from this event they were attending. It was raining that night and they slid off the road and...that was that."

"I really don't know what to say." Natalie found that a little strange. She lost both her parents, surely there was something that she could say. It just wasn't coming to her.

"It's really fine. It was, after all, about ten years ago."

Natalie shook her head. "The length of time might've grown longer, but the pain never goes away. I know exactly how you feel."

Alex narrowed her eyes slightly at Natalie's words. "It sounds like you've had your fair share of tragedy in your life."

Her brows raised high and Natalie huffed out a breath. "Oh, you have no idea. I, um..." She swallowed hard. "I lost both of my parents...in an accident, two years apart. I know the time span is vastly different, but, I know what it feels like."

"I'm sorry, about your parents. After what I went through, I never wanted anyone to go through something like that, which is kind of naïve. Everyone loses people that they love, it's what my uncle calls, a fact of life."

Natalie gave a hum of faint disagreement and bit down on her lip. "It may be a fact of life, but, it doesn't always makes sense. So, after your parents died, did you not have any other family members to go with?"

Alex gave a brief, yet, painful smile at her question. "Ah. Well, I had a lot of family and I bounced around from aunt to aunt to uncle to older cousins. I went everywhere to try and live with different family members."

"Why with all of the bouncing around? Did they not want you there or something?"

"No, it was me." Natalie tilted her head in confusion. "After my parents died, I kind of, collapsed. I didn't really talk with people, I barely ate, which got me sick a couple of times. I was just a wreck. And, I started getting really moody, not listening to what anyone told me. I became a handful and that's why I was bouncing around, no one could handle me."

"Then, I guess, when you got to your uncle things seemed to have turned around." Natalie said, but she figured that she just answered herself.

Alex thought back to the day she arrived at her Uncle's house and how open he was to her. He never pushed her to do anything."I don't know how. He was just understanding, I mean I still don't understand how he was so caring. You know, he lost his sister. But, with me, he never pushed me to talk, he gave me the room that I needed to actually grieve. And I got through it. How about you? How did you get through all of that?"

"It wasn't easy, I uh..." Natalie paused as she looked up at Alex, seeing the expectant look on her face and Natalie realized that she was talking to a complete stranger. And it was about something that Natalie didn't talk about with anyone anymore. "This is actually kind of strange. I never really talk about myself to people that I don't know."

"I mean you don't have to say anything. Feel free to tell me to shut up whenever you want. I have a knack for butting into people's business to much and not knowing when to stop talking."

Natalie laughed and contemplated on the offer of unloading all of this onto Alex. It wasn't something that was too painful for Natalie to talk about. Did it still hurt? Of course. But, it was easier to stomach than it was a year ago. "No, it's fine actually. Sometimes it's nice to talk with someone else." Natalie pressed her finger to the tip of her straw and began to move it in a circle. "But, I didn't really take it that well. When my dad died, my whole family kind of fell apart, except for me. I acted like this glue because no one else could do it. So, I was used to pushing aside how I felt and buried my grief so that I could be there for my family. Not necessarily the best thing to do to yourself in a time like that."

"Let me guess. You're one of those people who puts others in front of yourself. You don't take into consideration what you feel."

Nodding, Natalie continued with playing with the straw in her glass. "Yeah. You hit the nail on the head. But, I've been getting better with it. My dad's death really messed with me and then my mom died and...my brother as well. I blamed myself for it all. And then I, uh, met a few people who made me realize that, I wasn't to blame. It wasn't an overnight thing, it took a while for me to actually believe it."

"Sounds like you've surrounded yourself with some good people then."

"Yeah. They are really good people."

Natalie realized that she never really has fully appreciated what Bobby, Sam and Dean have done for her. Always being there for her. Listening to her when she needed to talk, which wasn't a common thing, in fact, it was very rare. But, it would always be Sam she would go to for something like that. But, Bobby and Dean both did their part. Bobby has become her father, in many ways and Dean is that overprotective, annoying, older brother.

"Okay, let's try and turn all of this depressing matters aside." Alex finally said, breaking the tense silence between them. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"Job. Um, kind of complicated to describe. Essentially, I travel around and help people."

"Oh. Like a traveling nurse or..." Alex's brow raised in a questioning manner towards the end.

Natalie made a face at Alex's brow raising. "Uh, no nothing like that. Just...helping others, that's pretty much the entirety of what I do."

"Not trying to sound rude, but it sounds like a pretty lonely job."

Natalie shrugged. "You're kinda right. I mean, I've been working with the same people for a few years now and it's just been us. Really no one else."

Alex blew out a breath that puffed up her cheeks. "I don't know if I would be able to do something like that. See the same few people over and over again, working with them non-stop. Well, I kinda do that now, but, I work with a huge group of people. How does that not drive you nuts?"

"I don't know. It's just the nature of the job. You know this kind of thing, right here..." Natalie pointed between her and Alex. "I never really get to have something like this. I mean I know that I don't know you, like at all, but, it's nice to be able to just talk with someone different. What I do, it doesn't really create enough room to have a vast social life. The job, it takes its toll on me."

"That must be difficult. Being stuck with something that you can't get out of. Have you tried looking for another job?"

Natalie raised her brows. "Believe me, I've tried quitting this life that I live, but I'm in and I can't get out, no matter how badly I might want to. I'm stuck with it."

"How did you manage to cope with that? If I were you, it probably would've driven me crazy."

"Honestly, I don't have an answer. It's not necessarily something that I think about a lot. It's just, human nature, we are prone to adapt to our environments, situations and that's just what I did. It became, normal for me. I hardly see my Aunt or my sister and it's perfectly normal and I wish that it wasn't. But, there's nothing that I can do and I grew to accept it."

"That's an unfortunate situation. At least you're working with people that you seem to like."

"They're like family. So, it does make it a little easier." Natalie then leaned back in her seat. "What about you? What do you do for a living?"

"I work as a Personal Assistant to Gary York, who owns one of the local businesses here. Been with him for a couple of years. It's a pretty steady job, I don't mind it." Alex didn't have much enthusiasm in her voice when she spoke about it.

"It sounds a lot more steady than what I do. I would love to do something that was steady."

"It gets _really _boring after a while." Alex answered with a heavy eye roll. "I need something to happen, you know? Some kind of adventurous event that can make everything a whole lot more exciting."

"Be careful about wishing for that. To much adventure can really lead you into a big heap of trouble."

Alex shrugged casually. "What's life if you don't get into a little trouble?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But, I've had my fair share of tremendous adventures and I'll say...I'm pretty tired. It puts down a lot of weight on you and whenever one thing seems to be over, something else sprouts up from the ground."

"Maybe I should doing what you do. Just once, you know?"

Natalie shook her head vehemently. "No, you really don't, trust me. I think the best thing for you is to stay where you are right now. Just be happy with what you have."

The conversation was interrupted by Natalie's phone going off. As she was taking it out of her pocket, she began to think that it was Alan, calling her with information. But, when she looked down at the screen, she saw that it was Sam. Looking up at Alex, she gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I need to take this."

"No problem. Go ahead."

Natalie stood up from her seat and walked away from the table, far enough to where Alex would hear the conversation and answered the call. "Hey."

_"Hey. Just calling in to see how it's all going." _

"Uh. Everything is fine. I'm actually having some dinner right now, so, nothing to exciting is going on."

_"Have you gotten any info yet from your professor?" _

"No. He's going through some books and said he would call me if he found anything. How's it going up at the cabin?"

_"Not that well." _

Natalie furrowed her brows, but she was also smiling. She could hear the annoyance in Sam's voice. "What's going on?"

_"Dean's been ripping into me about...you and me. Did you tell him anything?" _

"I, uh, might've let...something slip." Natalie said, her hand scratching the back of her head.

Sam let out a groan, which only made Natalie laugh._ "It's not funny, Nad. He's been rubbing it in my face since you left." _

It was bound to happen." Natalie answered. "You know how Dean is. Besides, maybe we can give him that. I mean, he did have to deal with our nonsense for a while."

_"Why didn't you tell me he knew? I could've tried and prepared myself for his annoying teasing." _

"I didn't think it would be a big deal. Anyway, I think you can handle it. Besides, he still has a cast on his leg. So, if you smack him against the head, he won't be able to do much."

_"That sounds like a very tantalizing idea. But, knowing Dean, he would just rip off the cast and come after me." _

"Yeah, you got a point." Natalie looked over at the table where Alex was sitting and she could see her motioning Natalie over, their food was there. "Hey, Sam I have to go. But, I'll call tomorrow and give you guys an update."

_"Okay." _

"Enjoy dealing with Dean." Natalie added and Sam could hear the smile in her voice.

_"Thanks. I can hear the sympathy just pouring from you." _

Natalie snickered as she pulled the phone away and ended the call. Now, she could eat. _Good. I'm starving._

* * *

Natalie walked out of the bathroom, gently wiping a towel over her face and as she sat down on the edge of the bed, Natalie could feel another smile appear. Her night with Alex seemed to have sparked something in her. She hasn't been able to do something like that in a long time. It was different when she would eat at a diner with Sam and Dean, it was expected. But, Alex was someone completely new and to be able to talk with someone that was outside of the close circle that Natalie was so used to, it was refreshing. Plus, Alex was actually really fun to talk with. Natalie felt like she was just a "normal" person, not having to worry about a case and the Leviathan weren't even on her mind the entire night. That was also probably not a good thing, Natalie had her guard down. That's not something she should allow herself to do.

Regardless, Natalie was beyond tired and after spending more than a few hours with Alex, she was ready to just lie down and sleep. Besides, it was almost midnight. Turning to look at the night stand, where her phone was, Natalie mentally told herself to set the alarm on her phone for the morning.

Right as she was about to get up, Natalie heard a thud against the motel door and her head immediately snapped around, her eyes glued on the area. Faint taps against the door soon followed and Natalie slowly stood up from the bed, but made sure to pick her gun from the table. Walking up to the door, she peered through the eye hole, though she didn't see anything. Reaching for the handle, Natalie slowly turned it and pulled the door open and stood in mere shock at what she saw.

Eyes looked up at her with immense exhaustion and weakness. The right side of the face was covered in blood and what looked like dirt. By the looks of it, blood had been dripping down the person's nose for quite sometime. A dark wool coat was unbuttoned, revealing a pale blue buttoned shirt with a single blood streak that cut across the victim's chest. Natalie's eyes swept back up to the person's face and Natalie's eyes widened at who she saw standing in front of her. "Caden?"

"Natalie." Caden's voice slurred as he muttered her name. His body was starting to sway back and forth, like he was about to lose his balance.

"Caden." Natalie reached out for him and the angel suddenly collapsed into her. The weight came as a surprise as Natalie wrapped both her arms around his frame. Making sure that the gun was still on safety, she tucked it back into her pant line and Natalie began to drag Caden over to the bed and laid him out on the mattress. All the while, the angel was muttering words that she couldn't decipher in that moment.

Turning around, she went to close the door quickly and then took a moment to assess the scene before her. She had not seen him in weeks and now he appears at her motel door, beaten and bloodied. _Where the hell have you been? _

Setting the gun back down on the table, Natalie retreated to the bathroom and quickly soaked one of the motel towels in warm water. After squeezing out the excess, Natalie sauntered over to the bed, sat down next to Caden and began to gently clean the blood from his face, making sure to go easy.

The warmth from the rag seemed to have helped ease Caden towards regaining full grasp of his surroundings. His face scrunched at Natalie's wipes and his eyes blinked several times, to rid of the drowsiness that he felt.

"Just take it easy." Natalie spoke quietly as she worked on the blood that was still dripping from his nose.

Caden swallowed and brought his hand up to his chest, his fingers grazing over the cut that was made there.

"Don't touch it." Natalie gently demanded, as she tugged his hand away from the wound. "I'm gonna get you cleaned up."

The blood on Caden's face was finally cleaned up, leaving only harsh bruises that were located on his right cheek. Natalie stood up and walked back into the bathroom to clean off the towel and rinse it one more time.

"Alright. I need to clean this gash on your chest." Natalie said as she sat back down on the bed next to him. "So, I'm gonna need you to take off your coat and shirt."

Caden only blinked tiredly at Natalie, even though he was in pain and weak, the demand was a little out of nowhere for him. It was the same thing for Natalie as well, she was trying hard to ensure that she didn't look flustered. It wasn't every day that Natalie got to tell an angel to strip down for her. Actually, this was the first.

Either way, no matter how awkward it made Natalie feel and even a little on Caden's part, the article of clothing that needed to be removed were removed. Natalie, of course, had to help him with it. Caden was moving so stiffly and just a little motion seemed to aggravate his pain even more.

_What the hell happened to him? _Natalie thought as she worked at getting the wound clean, pausing at several times when Caden would hiss out his discomfort. Possibly an angel. That seemed to be the only logical explanation for something that would attack Caden.

"You going to tell me where the hell you've been?" Natalie decided that she needed some kind of explanation. Caden didn't have to go into full detail, that could be saved for later, but she wanted something to help justify the anxiety she had felt from his absence.

"Heaven." Caden replied, his voice was dry and scratchy. "Castiel, um, had me locked away. It wasn't exactly the kind of place an angel would want to be locked away in."

"How did you get all of these injuries?" Natalie asked.

"I got out. Broke out actually."

Natalie paused and gave Caden a blank stare. "How did you manage to do that? Isn't there like some heavy security angels would use with their prisoners?"

"I managed my way." Caden replied, though Natalie could hear the hesitation in his voice. "But, some of the angels were dispatched to find me. That's what I've been doing. Going on the run and also why I never went to you. I didn't want you all to get in the way. But, they caught up to me and...then this happened." Caden gestured to his face and chest.

Natalie finished wiping at the wound on his chest, but more blood began to seep back out. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to where he would need to keep something against it. "Where are those angels now?"

"I killed them."

Natalie stood up and walked into the bathroom, picked up two new towels and went back over to the bed. "Isn't that kind of a taboo thing with your kind?" She asked, pressing one of the towels to his chest.

"They definitely won't be to happy that I did. Most likely, they'll try and find me." Caden's hand covered hers, applying more pressure to his wound.

Natalie looked around the room and blew out a tired breath. All she wanted was to sleep. "Well, then, I'm gonna need to get you out of here."

"What are you doing here in the first place?"

Natalie remained quiet for a moment. She debated whether she should tell Caden everything that happened right now. But, she figured that he should hear it from Bobby, Sam, Dean and herself. "A lot has happened since I last saw you Caden and I don't really know if I have the energy to go into a full explanation right now."

"Where's Castiel?" Natalie went quiet again, her gaze focused on his chest, but Caden decided to push more. "The last that any of the angels heard from him was this...speech that he made in Heaven and that was it. Where is he?"

"Caden. Maybe that's a discussion that should happen later, okay."

"What happened?" He demanded.

Natalie looked up at him, eyes were hardened and lips formed into a thin line. "Cas went over his head and he got himself into a little bit of trouble. That's all I'm gonna tell you for now. I think it will be easier if you hear it from all of us."

"How's Sam?" Caden asked as Natalie turned the towel around to a clean surface and pressed it back to his wound.

"We wasn't good Caden. His head got worse and he was hallucinating, really badly. Right now. I'm not to sure what is going in his head. He won't tell me anything, but I know it's not something that will fix itself."

"I wish there was a way for me to help him."

"Hey." Natalie brushed her hand against his forehead, feeling that he was really warm. "Don't start feeling guilty about it, what happened to Sam, wasn't your fault."

"I couldn't convince Castiel not to open Purgatory. That was my fault."

"Stop. You did what you could. Cas already had his mind up and he was going to go through with it, no matter what anyone said to him. That's his fault. Not yours." Their eyes locked in a silent stare down, but Caden wasn't challenging what she said and Natalie could still see that he felt guilty. After all he just went through in Heaven and killing his own brothers, he still felt guilty about something that wasn't in his control.

"Okay." Natalie was the first to break their eye contact, "That's enough about that subject. I'm gonna get you out of here, so, uh...put your shirt and coat back on."

Natalie stood up to go back into the bathroom and tossed the towel into the sink. She then went to work with getting everything back into her bag. She was a little irritated that she was leaving before Alan could give her any useful information. But, she didn't think he would be able to find much of anything on the Leviathan. He had told her at the library that there wasn't much written on them. Therefore, he probably wasn't going to find anything new, aside from what she already heard from Death.

As she finished packing her bag, she casted a quick glance over at Caden, seeing that he was struggling with getting his coat on. Walking over, she grasped the collar of his coat and gently slid the sleeves over both his arms. Adjusting the front a few times, the coat was finally sitting nicely on him. She picked up the other clean towel from the bed and pressed it against his chest.

"Hold it there." She quietly ordered and once his hand was against the towel, Natalie nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

Natalie turned around, picked up her bag and gestured for Caden to start heading out of the room. Turning off the lamp, Natalie walked out behind him and made sure to quietly close the door, for some reason. After getting Caden to the car, Natalie threw her bag into the back seat and started heading back to the motel to check out.

Her mind was buzzing from what just happened. Caden showed up at her motel room door, bloodied and beaten after he had been missing for about three weeks, almost a month. Natalie had began to think that perhaps the angel was gone for good, that she would never actually see him again. Many prayers were sent to him from Natalie and never once were they answered. Was she mad? Actually, Natalie wasn't even sure if she was or not. Anger wasn't exactly on the list of emotions she was feeling right now. Just confusion and relief. But, she could feel her anxiety starting to act up. Caden _killed _a few angels and she knew that sooner or later, they would come looking for him. She knew, somewhat, that when an angel kills another, it doesn't exactly go unpunished. She needed to get him the hell out of here and back to Bobby. He would know exactly what needed to be done for Caden, at least, that's what she hoped.

Natalie mindlessly check out and headed back towards the car in the parking lot. Her phone began to buzz and she pulled it out, seeing that someone had sent her a message.

_Need to see you. Have some info for you._

Natalie pursed her lips, realizing that it was Alan who had sent the message to her. She quickly typed out a reply.

_Address? _

Natalie only had to have a few seconds before the message came through and it was the address she needed. She responded that she was on her way as she picked up her pace for the car.

"We need to make a quick stop before we head out of town." Natalie announced as she got into the driver's seat.

"Whatever you need to do. I'm just the passenger." Caden coolly replied.

"Yeah, well." Natalie looked over at him, her eyes roaming over his injuries one more time. "You just relax, alright. We're gonna have a long drive ahead so, make yourself comfortable."

"I'm an angel. Being in this...vehicle, will be an interesting experience."

"It's not going to be all that interesting trust me."

...

Natalie looked down at the address that was written in the message that was sent to her and she looked across the street at the house. "That's the house." Natalie placed her phone back into her pocket and unbuckled her seat belt. "Just stay here, alright? It won't take me long."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Good."

Natalie pushed open the car door and stepped out, placing her keys in her pocket as she walked across the street. She took the porch steps quickly and stopped at the front door, her fist raised up to knock against the wood, but when she did, the door slightly nudged open.

Natalie stared at the door, seeing that it wasn't closed all the way. Her palm pressed against the door and she pushed against it briefly, opening it a little wider. "Hello? Mr. Bryant?" Natalie called out, but she didn't receive any kind of verbal answer.

Instinct kicked in, Natalie reached behind and pulled out her gun, clicking the safety off and aimed the weapon in front of her as she pushed the door open all the way.

The first thing that greeted her was darkness. The entire house was dark, not exactly the sign that tells you someone is home. Natalie took a few steps into the house and realized that a song was being played. _All I Have To Do Is Dream. _The source of the music wasn't exactly distinguishable. It seemed like it was being played from all over and it was sort of quiet, not at a loud volume. But, it just created this eerie feeling in the dark house.

Natalie continued on. Taking slow steps, she quietly made her way down the main hallway, there was a staircase towards the right, and she could see the kitchen was up ahead and it was being lit by a soft light. But, Natalie stopped when she came to a set of double doors to her left. Leaning closer, it seemed like this was where the music was coming from as well. A light was also seeping out from under the door, which gave Natalie half a reassurance that there was someone in there.

Reaching out, she felt for the door handle and found it after a few unsuccessful attempts and tried to push and pull, but the door wouldn't open. By accident, Natalie slid it to the side and it opened. _Sliding doors. Nice. _Natalie slid the door all the way open and slowly peered in, gun first, but found that there was a huge lamp, lying on the floor and the room was an absolute mess, not to mention that she found the source of the music.

Papers and books were sprawled out all over the desk and floor. One of the shelves had been turned on its side and as Natalie walked in more, she could see smudges of blood on the desk and floor.

"Dammit." Natalie quietly cursed at the blood and her eyes quickly rolled when she heard the song starting to repeat all over again. But, her endeavor to shut the music off was interrupted when she saw another pair of sliding doors.

Raising her gun back up into an aim, Natalie sauntered over towards the doors, seeing that there was a trail of blood that end under the doors. She slid open one of the doors, enough to where the light was able to emanate part of the room and she quickly slid it all the way open.

Stepping in, Natalie's mouth fell agape at what she saw. Alan was lying on the floor, a small puddle of blood was formed under his head. He was situated in front of Alex, who was bound and gagged in a chair, a stream of blood was running down the side of her head.

Natalie knelt down next to Alan's body, her fingers pressing against the side of his neck and found no pulse. She should've known, from the amount of blood that she saw. Natalie stood up, stepped around his body and knelt down in front of Alex, her hand bracing against the side of her face.

"Alex?" Natalie spoke gently, seeing the woman look up at her with tear stained eyes, but it looked like she was going to pass out. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

Alex began to weakly shake her head and she was muttering whimpers that Natalie figured were her attempts at words. Natalie went to remove the cloth from her mouth when a pair of hands grabbed her by the arms and threw her into the side adjoining room. Natalie's body smacked against the ground with a sickening thud and her body slid on the linoleum ground until she came to a slow halt.

Natalie tried to force herself to quickly recover as the figure began to take slow, relaxed steps towards her. Only then did a voice finally make its appearance.

"Do you and the Winchesters always get innocent people in on your plans?"

Natalie's brows knitted at the fact that this person seemed to know her and Sam and Dean. Her attacker looked fairly young, perhaps late twenties and short cropped dark hair. But, she still couldn't figure out who he was. She's never seen him before. Of course, if he was a hunter, why would he attack her?

"Oh." The man paused and pointed at himself. "You don't recognize me, do you?" The man smirked as Natalie began to drag herself towards the entryway that led into the main hall, but her eyes were glued on him. "Maybe you will when I look like this."

The man's face transformed and it was a familiar sight. Sharp, pointed teeth, a huge mouth and a two pronged tongue. Natalie's eyes widened and the man's face transformed back into the original form, the smirk was still evident.

"Familiar now."

Natalie quickly pushed herself up to her feet as he began to make his charge after her. Knowing that this wouldn't kill him, it was still something that she could do. Natalie raised her gun, aimed it at him and shot off multiple arounds into his chest. His body only jolted from the shots and when she finally ran out of bullets, he looked down at the work she had done and hummed in mocking approval.

"Nice. But, you know that bullets don't do anything to us, right?"

Natalie turned towards the entryway, but the Leviathan had a fast grip on her hair and yanked her head back only to slam it once against the wall. Natalie's body slid to the ground and she landed on her stomach. Her head was pounding and the sensation spread throughout her entire skull. Natalie groaned as she began to drag herself away from him, though she knew that she wouldn't be able to get far.

A harsh kick to her stomach halted her movement and her close snapped shut at the impact. Her body reacted by resting on her side and curling in itself.

"You should really stop getting other people involved." He continued and kicked her in the stomach again. "Because they always end up screwed." Another kick to the stomach and he began to whistle along with the song as he kicked Natalie in the stomach a few more times, the last two were aimed more at her ribs.

After the last kick, Natalie rolled almost onto her stomach, her arm pressed against her ribs and she was choking on her cries. He leaned down, his hand grasping at her neck and slowly lifted her up from the ground.

"Natalie." Caden stumbled into the house and it garnered the attention of the Leviathan.

Natalie quickly pulled out her knife from her back pocket and stabbed him in the shoulder. A strained, venomous groan escaped as he looked back at Natalie and with a violent throw, Natalie was tossed through a glass door that led to a porch outside. Natalie rolled onto her back, feeling the shards of glass poking at her skin and she looked back into the house, seeing Caden and the Leviathan fighting. Caden wasn't going to last long, he was still too weak.

Natalie's gaze wandered over towards the porch railing and leaned up against the house paneling was an ax. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, Natalie, painfully, crawled over the broken glass, feeling small shards stabbing her hand, as she made her way over to the weapon. Her ribs and stomach felt like they were on fire and every breath she sucked in only made it worse. Finally reaching the ax, Natalie stumbled to her feet, grabbed the handled and walked back over to the shattered glass door. Caden was already pinned up against the wall and the Leviathan was have a punching fest on him.

Lifting the ax in a firm grip, Natalie stepped back into the house, picked up her pace and once she was close enough, she raised the ax and with one swipe, she embedded the blade into the side of the Leviathan's neck. Blood ooze seeped out from the wound, but it didn't go all the way through the flesh. Yanking the ax out, Natalie made another quick swipe and the head rolled off onto the ground with the body falling quickly after.

Natalie huffed out a breath as she stared at the headless body and then looked over at Caden. By the looks of it, he was going to have another few bruises from this. "You, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Caden sniffed and wiped at the ooze that had splattered against his face.

"I thought I told you to stay in the car." Natalie added.

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't." Caden added, but she could hear the 'are you not going to thank me?' in his tone.

Natalie nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Thanks. Okay, well, we have to take Alex with us."

Caden looked up at her, confused. "Alex?"

Natalie turned and walked back into the room where Alex was still tied to the chair, except it looks like she passed out during the fight. Natalie gently removed the gag from her mouth and went to work with cutting the ropes around her body. "Can you get her to the car?" Natalie asked Caden as he walked into the room.

"I should be able to manage." He gently scooped Alex into his arms and began to make the walk to the car.

"I'll be out there soon." Natalie called out as he disappeared through the kitchen and down the main hall. Natalie took a moment and looked down at Alan's lifeless body, with her hand pressed to her mouth, Natalie knelt down next to him, her hand resting against his back.

"I'm sorry."

The apology was genuine on her part. Natalie didn't think that they would actually find her and why exactly would the Leviathan be so interested in them? But, she was stupid for thinking that. They burnt down Bobby's house and tried to chase her and Bobby down. Of course they were out to get them. Natalie buried her face against her hands and let out a shaky breath. _I shouldn't have come here. _

She pulled her hands away when her eyes spotted something in Alan's hand. Leaning closer, Natalie reached forward and gently pulled the piece of paper from his hand. Unfolding it, Natalie found only three words written on it.

_Written word of..._

And that was it. Natalie knitted her brows together as she inspected the other side of the paper, thinking there was more, and there wasn't. "What the hell does this mean? Seems like you were on to something."

Natalie breathed out a 'okay' and pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed out a number and pressed it up to her ear.

_"Hello?"_

"Aunt Clara. I need you to listen to me. You need to get out of the house."

_"What? Why?" _

"The Leviathan were able to track me down here in Omaha. I'll explain why I'm here later. But, we don't know what else they know about me. We can't take the chance of them tracking you down. So you need to get what you can and get out of the house. Move to one of your cabins."

_"This is something that I wasn't expecting to hear from you." _

"I know. And I promise when I get there I'll explain everything. Which cabin are you going to?"

_"Probably the one down in Banes." _

"Missouri. Okay, I'm on my way. Um, just a fair warning, I'm bringing two people with me and they are going to need some attention from Mari."

_"Well, when I get to the cabin, I'll call her. What should I tell her?" _

"The truth. There's no use in hiding this from her."

_"Alright. I'll leave soon." _

"Okay. I'll see you there." Natalie pulled the phone away and ended the call. But, before she tucked her phone away, Natalie typed out a quick message to David and Jake. Someone needed to be here and take care of everything. Natalie needed to get Caden and Alex out of here. She hated the thought of David and Jake coming in and cleaning up the mess, but if she can, she will drive back down here with them. But, with how much her stomach and ribs were bothering her, she didn't think that would be a possibility.

Natalie stood up, gave one last look at Alan, before walking into the office and paused when she realized that the same song was still playing. Turning to the radio set, Natalie quickly switched it off and grimaced. "I'm never going to be able to listen to that song again."

* * *

Natalie, with the bags hanging from her arm, threw open the cabin door and allowed Caden entry first since he was carrying Alex. Clara was the first to greet them and it wasn't exaggerating to say that she was really shocked by the condition everyone was in. All of them had blood on their faces, Caden looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion and there was an unconscious girl in his arms.

Clara looked at Natalie when she finally closed the door and let out a sigh. "What happened?"

"Take care of Caden and Alex first. Then I'll tell you." Natalie answered as she set the bags down on the ground next to her.

"Okay." Clara nodded and motioned for Caden to follow. "I'll show where you can set her down and I'll take you to a room you can stay in."

"Thank you." Caden replied as he followed Clara into the hallway, disappearing from Natalie's sight.

Finally, she was allowed to rest. She just drove for six hours, stomach and ribs were burning and her head was bleeding. That was the worst thing she has ever done. Pressing her hand against her stomach, Natalie painfully walked over to the couch and gently lowered her body on the cushions.

She moved to reach for her phone from her pocket, but her movements were very slow and gentle. Dialing out the numbers seemed to much of a challenge, but Natalie just surmised that it was because she was exhausted. Once the number was dialed out, Natalie, shakily, brought the phone up to her ear.

_"Nad?" _Bobby's voice came through and Natalie could tell by the tone that she had woken him up. Made sense. It was about seven in the morning, all of the boys would've been sleeping at this time.

"Bobby..." Natalie breathed out a painful groan that was audible on his end.

_"Nad, are you alright?" _

"No...I, uh...I ran into a little bit of a situation back in Omaha." Natalie hugged her arm around her ribs and leaned her head back until it was resting against the couch.

_"What happened?" _

"The Leviathan found me. And, uh...I went to my professor's house because he messaged me and...the Leviathan was there. It killed him...and I got the living crap kicked out of me." Her voice hitched with a quiet cry. "But, I'm at Aunt Clara's cabin."

Bobby let out a heavy, drawn out sigh and Natalie could hear movement from the other end, telling her that Bobby was getting ready to head out._ "Which cabin are you at?" _

"Uh...we're at the one in Banes, Missouri. Also, there is a lot more that I'll explain to you when you get there."

_"That's fantastic."_ Natalie could hear Bobby starting to wake up Dean and Sam from their sleep and she could hear Dean voice his argument of wanting to stay asleep. _"The boys and I will be there soon." _

"Is Dean's leg still in a cast?"

_"Nah. He was impatient and cut it off today. He can walk on it, so, I guess it's not a big deal." _

Natalie went quiet, but nodded her head, even though it was pointless. Bobby wouldn't be able to see it. But, Bobby seemed to have heard her loud and clear.

_"I'll let you go Nad. Get some rest. We'll be there soon." _

"Okay." Natalie whispered and dragged the phone away and lost the grip on it, allowing it to fall on the floor.

Natalie closed her eyes, feeling a desperate sense of relief finally flood her, but all she could think about was Alan's battered body and Alex being tied up in the chair. She didn't want any of this to happen, she had no idea that it would. Either way, she should've stayed in Montana, that way the trip to Omaha would've never happened. Besides, her whole goal was to try and get information on the Leviathan and she didn't get anything, aside from the note she found crumbled in Alan's hand.

Written word of...-whatever the hell that meant, it clearly was something that he was figuring out. The Leviathan must have gotten in when Alan was doing the research. But, Natalie began to think about what Alex might know. Did the Leviathan say anything to her? Probably. But, that won't be answered until tomorrow, most likely. Right now, Natalie couldn't bring herself to try and come up with an explanation for what was written on the paper.

As of now, Natalie allowed herself the luxury of at least going to sleep. Hardly getting any rest when she got to Omaha and now, her body was aching from the attack she suffered, she needed to sleep. Natalie gingerly turned her body so that her legs could easy rest on the couch. Lying her head against the couch, Natalie kept her arm across her stomach and soon her eyes began to close. She knew that she told Clara there would be an explanation given to her when she came back from taking care of Alex and Caden. But, as of now, Natalie didn't care about that right. It was time for her to rest.

* * *

**So, what did you all think? How do you like Alex so far? Again, I am so sorry that I have been taking so long with these updates. I'm usually really good with updating in less than a week, but that's not the case apparently. I will continue to try with quicker updates, I promise. I know, I think you all were expecting Alex and Dean to meet in this chapter, but, they will meet in the next one. I promise. **

**Don't forget to check out Nad's blog and send me a message there if you like! :)**

**Review Responses:**

**Marieniz V: **I am so glad that you like the Satalie chapter! I will say it has been a HUGE relief now that those two have finally admitted it!

**Sarahmichellegellarfan1: **I'm right there with you! Glad I was able to write the chapter finally! And there definitely will be more Satalie moments that will be sprinkled in throughout the chapters!

**January Lily: **Don't worry about it! And you don't have to apologize! It's totally fine! AHHH SATALIE FEELS! I am so glad that you love them (I do too, obviously). They always give me insane feels. And HOPEFULLY Dealex will start getting the readers to feel the exact same way *crossing fingers* I genuinely hope that Alex will be loved by you and all the readers. I am sure she will be bringing some good entertainment in the future.

**Guest 1: **I am so happy that you are so enthusiastic about the possible sequel series! I will say that it is definitely something that is on my mind constantly. I haven't actually figured out any plans for it, since I'm still on this series. But, we shall see what happens when spn ends and whether I have the drive to write it. But, I really do appreciate your support on that. It means the world to me.

**Guest 2: **Oh my gosh, I am so honored that you love my story so much! Seriously, it means the world to me when people tell me how much they love my stories. It just gives me so much drive to write for all you lovely readers. And I do hope that Alex made a good first impression on you. She and Dean will definitely be really fun to write in future chapters. YES! SAM FINALLY SAID IT! Like you, I am so happy that it was finally able to happen. They literally are so cute together, I love them.


	5. Monsters Are Real?

_A/N: Wow, hello there everyone. I know it's been a month since I last updated and I am so sorry for the long wait. A lot just kind of got pushed onto me and I hit the worst writer's block I have ever experienced. I don't know why I am having such a hard time with writing this story, but, I promise that I am trudging through it! This chapter is a little mellow, I will admit, only a few conversations that may be interesting. Now let's get on with the chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

15 hours later...

Natalie was woken from her slumber by someone gently shaking her by the shoulder. Her tired eyes pried open and after blinking several times, the picture of her sister finally came through clear. Natalie didn't move. Her body remembered that it had been in pain the night before and she was ensuring that no movement happened on her end.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Marina's voice was light, but Natalie could hear the concern laced in with it.

"Hi." Natalie's greeting came out as more of a quiet whisper.

"I got here a few hours ago. Thought that I would let you rest some more while I went and checked up on your friends."

Natalie gave weak nods. "How are they?"

"Well, the girl, she'll be fine. Just a minor head cut, some bruising on the face, but, nothing to serious and the other. He has bad lacerations, but, he'll live."

Natalie breathed out in relief, but her voice hitched as she felt her ribs painfully expand. "Good."

Marina noticed this and moved closer to the couch, where Natalie was lying, practically as limp as a rag doll. "It's your turn to get checked out."

"Mari, I..." Natalie huffed out a painful whimper. "I don't even want to move right now."

"Well, to bad. I need to see how bad the damage is." Marina reached down to take a hold of Natalie's arm. "Come on. Let's go to the bathroom and I'll check you there."

Natalie let out another breath, this time, Marina could hear the annoyance in it. Natalie just wanted to stay on the couch, not move, until the pain wore off enough to where she could move around. But, the grip on Natalie's arm was still present and it wasn't going anywhere.

Mentally preparing her for the pain to come, Natalie gingerly maneuvered herself so that she could stand up from the couch, of course, with Marina's help. Once up on her feet, Natalie's arm instinctively secured around her ribs as Marina guided her over to the bathroom a couple of feet away from them.

"Where exactly are you hurting?" Marina asked as they began to make their way to the bathroom. Natalie was leading, though, it looked like she was walking on glass. In reality, she was trying not to make fast steps, her body was already starting to ache as it is.

"It's my ribs." Natalie finally answered.

Marina let out a sigh as they finally stepped into the bathroom. "That's not what I was hoping to hear." She closed the door behind her. "Okay. Take off the jacket and shirt."

Natalie began to work her jacket off, but Marina eventually had to step in and help upon seeing Natalie having a difficult time. Once the jacket was off, Marina set it down on the counter and then went to work with shrugging off Natalie's shirt, which didn't take long.

Once the clothing was off and Natalie was left in just her bra, Marina made a careful assessment of Natalie's ribs and just what she suspected, there was a decent amount of bruising. They weren't as bad as she initially thought while walking in there. Her first initial thought on hearing that Natalie's ribs were hurting was that they were broken. That would be the worst case scenario.

"Yeah, you definitely got beaten." Marina guided Natalie towards the counter, where the lighting was better and leaned down so she had a better view of Natalie's ribs. "Okay, this may sting a little bit."

Marina reached up her hand and gently moved it across the surface of Natalie's ribs, looking for any sign of breakage or swelling. Some parts of the skin was darker in the color shade and those points seemed to be very sore. Just the slightest touched made Natalie hiss. Marina applied a little more pressure on the area, just double checking for any breakage she might have missed. After examining both sides, Marina was relieved when she didn't find any ribs that were broken.

"Well, good news." Marina leaned back up. "None of your ribs are broken. They're just badly bruised. So, what you need to do, is keep up with normal breathing. That means, deep breaths, allow your lungs to fully expand."

"But, Mari it hurts when I do that." Natalie complained.

Marina stared at her sister in amusement. The tone that Natalie used made it sound like she was five years old and complaining about something. "Well, to bad." Marina replied with a small smile. "If you don't allow your lungs to fully expand, you could get a chest infection. So, keep up with the breathing. I have some painkillers that will help you and you need to rest. Oh and, when you go to sleep, let an ice pack sit on your ribs for about fifteen minutes then take it off."

Natalie nodded as she reached for her shirt on the counter. "Just what I needed. A routine that I'm gonna have to repeat. How long will it take for me to heal?"

"It usually takes about three to six weeks for ribs to heal."

Natalie paused, looking at her sister like she had just heard Marina speak in some foreign language. "Three to six weeks?"

Marina nodded, completely unfazed by Natalie's surprisement.

"Mari, I can't be resting for that long. We're gonna have to go back out on the road soon."

"Well, tough." Marina retorted. "You need the time to rest and allow your ribs to heal. And Nad, I swear, if I hear that you're going out and slashing up vampires, I will come find you and I will kill you myself. Am I understood?"

Natalie gave an annoyed nod, accompanied with a roll of her eyes. "Yes."

Picking up her shirt, Natalie gently placed her arms through the sleeves and then tugged the rest down her body. Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie spotted something on Marina's hand and when she looked fully at it, she paused in shock.

"What's that?" Natalie suddenly asked, making Marina look at her with confusion. But, she followed Natalie's gaze down to her left ring finger.

"Is that what I think it is?" Natalie continued to question.

Marina tried her best to suppress her smile as she raised up her hand, allowing Natalie a full view of the ring. "Yeah."

Natalie switched her gaze from the ring and to her sister, clearly, her mind was working at a slow rate to fully process this. But, when it finally sank in, Natalie's face brightened with a huge smile.

"You're...engaged?"

Marina only nodded, her own smile growing at just hearing the words.

"When did Ethan pop the question?" Natalie reached for Marina's hand so that she could inspect the ring more.

"It was, uh, a few weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Natalie asked, looking up at her sister, brows knitted together.

Marina shrugged, allowing her hand to drop to her side when Natalie finally released her hold. "You had a lot going on these past few weeks and I just, didn't want to disturb you."

"Mari. You're my sister. You could never bother me with anything. Especially with this!" Natalie finished, the excitement was radiating off of her. "You're going to get married."

Natalie stepped away from the counter and wrapped Marina in her arms, although, the grip was feeble on Natalie's part. "I would hug you a little tighter, but, my body is a little broken right now."

Marina huffed out a laugh as she gently and carefully rubbed Natalie on her back. "It's fine. Thanks for the hug anyway."

Natalie made an attempt to give her sister a quick squeeze, but it was a pathetic attempt. She dropped her hold on Marina and stepped back to lean against the sink counter. "So, have you two set up a date yet?"

"No." Marina copied Natalie's stance and folded her arms over her chest. "I'm really in no hurry to pick out a date."

Natalie raised her brows. "Really? Usually, someone who is about to get married would want to get the date set sooner rather than later? But, what do I know?"

"The day will come. Don't worry."

Natalie nodded as her mind began to wonder off from her surprise and excitement. Marina was getting married. "Now you just have to go and pick out a big beautiful wedding dress." Natalie responded, her voice taking on a light, cheerful tone.

Marina wasn't exactly feeling the same way and she let out a small groan at the mention of wedding dresses. "That should be real fun." Sarcasm was just dripping from her voice.

"What?" Natalie smirked and looked over at her sister. "You aren't excited about all of this."

"No, I am." Marina assured. "It's just trying on dress after dress after dress...seriously, I am going to be so exhausted by the end of it."

"Well, isn't that the beauty of marriage. Yeah, you might get exhausted and get some horrible anxiety, but in the end, you get to spend the rest of your life with someone you love."

Marina breathed out a laugh. "Yeah. It's all worth it then, isn't it?"

Natalie merely shrugged. "I wouldn't know. You're going to be the one to find out because...you're the one getting married." Her voice took on the tone of realization.

Marina could sense that Natalie's mood had tapered slightly. "What is it?"

"It's just. You're getting married. You're doing what mom and dad wanted for all of us. To find someone, get married, have a family of our own. You've nearly done it all. You have Emy and Ethan, now you're engaged." Natalie finished with a smile, but it slowly disappeared. "And look at me. I became the one thing dad didn't want me to be."

Marina gave her sister a look, knowing exactly where she was going with this. "Hey. Dad would be proud of you Nad."

Natalie scoffed out her doubt. "Yeah, I don't think so. Especially after a lot of the things I've done..." Natalie shook her head. "He wouldn't be proud."

"Are you forgetting the fact that our father was perhaps the most understanding person we will ever know?"

Natalie scoffed out a laugh.

"Dad went through a lot. Before we were born and even before he met mom. If he would've seen what you've been through, he would've understand. And he would be by your side no matter what."

Natalie seemed to be mulling over Marina's words and the older sister could tell by this look on Natalie's face. Her lips were pursed together and brows just barely were knitting together in thought. This is how Marina would always know that she was getting to Natalie.

"And the whole married thing, you don't have to go through that to be with someone. You can have an effective relationship without the ring. And as far as children goes, you never know...you might get to be a mom."

"No, I don't think so Mari. That's never going to happen."

"Why not?"

Natalie gave Marina a look, telling her that she should've known the reason. "My life. It's not made for having kids...I'm not made for it. What I do, I don't want my kid to have to suffer from that."

"But, you're great with Emy." Marina reminded.

"She's different. She's not mine, she's yours. When I was in college, sure I wanted to have kids. But, now, I look around me and everything that I've seen...kids are off the cards for me."

"Well, I don't think so." Marina was settled on her answer. "I'm positive that it will one way or another. And speaking of kids and relationships...how are you Sam?"

Natalie kept her gaze forward, her eye staring at the white bathroom door, not letting Marina the satisfaction of reading the answer on her face.

"I mean, are you and him...alright? What's going on?" Marina asked, pushing the matter even further.

Natalie's shoulders slowly shrugged up, holding their position and her lips pursed out. "We're fine." Natalie finally said as she looked at Marina.

Marina gazed over Natalie's face, almost settling on the notion that Sam and Natalie weren't actually together. But, the look in Natalie's eyes and with the corner of her mouth twitching upwards, Marina's face lightened. "Are you two..."

Natalie answered with a meager nod.

"You guys are together." Marina clarified and Natalie smiled.

Marina huffed out a laugh as she gently shoved Natalie against the shoulder, only to immediately regret the action. Natalie's eyes snapped shut and she let out a loud hiss.

"Mari..."

"Sorry! Sorry...I didn't mean to. Sorry." Marina apologized as she gave an awkward pat against her sister's shoulder. "But, hey. You and Sam. It's about damn time too."

"Please, don't even start that." Natalie leaned away from the counter, picked up her jacket and began to make her way towards the door. "I already had to hear Dean rub it in my face a few times. I don't need it from you."

"Well, then Dean did all the work for me. I don't have to say anything." Marina joked.

"Good." Natalie huffed out. "I'm gonna go and sleep some more." Natalie opened the bathroom door and shuffled out, towards the room she mentally claimed as hers. "And if you're not busy..." Natalie called out as she walked down the hallway. "Bring me an ice pack, please."

* * *

Clara placed the mug back down on the counter and washed her hands down her face. She didn't get much sleep last night. For one, she was busy watching over the three battered people that stumbled into the cabin and her mind was flooding with questions. Clara could've easily began to ask Natalie question. But, by the time Clara came back out, Natalie was passed out on the couch. Clara didn't have the heart to wake her up. Since she didn't get anything resolved, Clara was awake practically all night, wondering exactly what the hell happened? Why did she have to come to the cabin out here in Banes?

The sound of car doors shutting caught Clara's attention and the hard, quick knocking at the door told her that it must've been Bobby and the boys. Stepping away from the counter, Clara quickly rushed over to the door, unlocked the door bolt and opened it. With a quick wave of her hand, Bobby, Sam and Dean quickly ushered into the cabin.

"Okay." Clara began as she closed the door and turned to them. "You mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"Right, um..." Bobby gave a calming gesture towards Clara. He knew that walking up to the cabin she was most likely going to be confused by all of this. "Clara, I just need you to calm down."

Clara's face hardened and her head slowly turned to the side. "Bobby Singer, don't you ever tell me to calm down. My niece calls me in the middle of the night, tells me to leave the house and move to the cabin. Then she arrives, beaten and exhausted, along with a bruised up guy carrying an unconscious girl. You're seriously telling me to calm down?"

Bobby could only give Clara a small shake of his head. "Nad went down to Omaha..."

"Yeah, I know that part. What was she even doing down there in the first place? I thought the four of you were hiding out in Montana?"

"We were." Bobby answered. "We were there for a few weeks and then...we needed to try and find out more information on this Leviathan mess. Nad offered to go down to Omaha to visit an old professor of hers.

"And you just...let her go? All by herself?"

"Nad didn't want any of us to go with her." Bobby said and could see the look on Clara's face, she wasn't going to take that as an excuse. "I know, Clara, okay. I should've gone with her and that's my mistake."

Clara closed her eyes and groaned. "No, it's...I'm sorry. I'm confused that's all. What kind of threat all of sudden spurs up? Nad told me about the Leviathan and are they now just coming after you guys?"

"We have no idea." Bobby's answer was sincere.

"Where's Nad?" Sam was the next one to question.

"She's sleeping. Thought I would give her as much sleep as she could get before you arrived."

The faint sound of footsteps coming down from the hallway behind them garnered their attentions. Bobby, Sam and Dean both turned to see Natalie shuffling out into the main room, her arm resting against her ribs. "No. It's okay, I'm awake."

The image of this battered Natalie could only be answered with sympathetic looks from the hunters. Natalie could see it in each of their eyes and she knew that they were mentally berating themselves for letting her go alone.

Bobby finally let out a sigh. "Nad..."

"No." Natalie raised her hand up to them. "Don't. I know what you three are going to say and honestly, I really don't want to hear it right now." Natalie moved a little closer to the group and then looked over at Clara. "I think I need to talk with them...alone."

Clara nodded. "I'll just leave you four alone then. I'll go check on our two guests and see how they're doing." Clara walked out of the main room and down the hallway where Natalie had come from.

"So, what exactly happened?" Bobby asked.

Natalie nodded at Bobby's question and moved to sit down on the arm of the couch. "Alright. So. I got to Omaha, found my teacher at the school he was working at. We went to the school library to try and find some info, didn't find anything. So, he said that he would continue looking. Later that night, around maybe midnight...Caden found me."

All of their expressions changed, brows knitting together in confusion and Sam's head tilted to the side. "Caden?" He repeated.

Natalie nodded. "Yeah. He found me at the motel and he was...bruised and bleeding...he was really weak. Anyway, I knew that I had to get him out of there. But, before I could leave, I got a message from my professor, asking me to come to his house. He had something he wanted to show me. I get there and I find him, on the floor, dead and Alex is tied up in a chair, almost unconscious."

"Who's Alex?" Dean interrupted.

"His niece."

Dean just merely nodded.

"Then I got attacked and...it was one of the Leviathan."

Despite the fact that the information Natalie was giving them was fairly scant, it was just enough for Sam, Dean and Bobby to easily piece them together. "How did you stop the thing?" Bobby asked.

"Chopped his head off with an ax. But, I don't even know if that killed him. I didn't stay long enough, I had to get Caden and Alex out of there."

"I just don't get one thing." Dean spoke up. "How exactly did they know where you were? They had no idea she would be coming from Montana and they wouldn't know she was heading towards Omaha."

Natalie shrugged. "My guess would be the credit card swipe I used at the motel."

"But, you used one with your alias, right?" Dean asked and Natalie couldn't help but give Dean a look.

"Of course I did. I'm not stupid." Natalie retorted. "But, we don't know what these things are doing. For all we know, they are getting smart by finding out information on us...that might also include our aliases."

"Well, isn't that just fantastic." Dean shook his head as he began to pace back and forth.

"That's why I called Aunt Clara and told her to come down here. I didn't want to risk the possibility of her being found."

"Well, they may have to stay here longer."

"I know."

"And what about Caden?" Sam asked. "I mean did you get to ask him where he has been for the past, almost, month?"

"No. I got just a little bit of info, but nothing to big. I was gonna go and talk to him soon, but I wanted to wait for David and Jake to get back. They went down to Omaha to check things out."

Dean stopped his pacing and turned to Natalie. "Did the Leviathan say anything to you? Like, why exactly he was there in the first place?"

"Well, no doubt it was because of me." Natalie answered.

"But, why would he go and attack your professor and his niece. That doesn't really make sense to me."

"Again...it's most likely because of me." Upon seeing the confused looks on their faces, Natalie decided to continue. "I don't know when exactly he got there. For all I know, he probably saw me talking him and got a hint of our conversation. I have absolutely no idea. But, that attack can't be just out of nowhere. It happened after I had met with him, it's not random."

"Okay, let's not jump to conclusions, Nad." Bobby spoke up. "Let's wait and see what David and Jake found when they got down there."

* * *

Reality hit Alex full on as her senses came back to life. Her head was resting against a soft pillow, but it didn't do anything about the pounding ache she was feeling. Alex blinked her eyes, scanning around the small room that she was lying in. It may have been small, but, she could feel that it had a "cozy" appeal to it.

Alex pulled the blankets off of her body so that she could get out of bed, even though all she wanted to do was just stay there and walked over to the bedroom door. Turning the handle, she slowly opened the door, enough to make a small opening, and peered out into the hallway, seeing nothing but other doors. Alex pulled the door open more and stepped out into the hallway, her hand brushed against the side of her head, feeling a bandage that was covering a cut. As she walked down the hallway, Alex could hear voices-a lot of them-in some kind of discussion and she could immediately point out Natalie's. Well, it was easy for her since that's the only voice she knew.

When the hallway finally ended, Alex was standing in a fairly decent sized living room, but the voices were coming from another small hallway to her right. There was only one doorway and she figured that's where the source was. As she carefully edged her way down towards the room, the voices continued on with their conversation.

"_So, this girl that you brought with you…" Dean made a circular motion with his hand as he tried to remember the name. He just had it a few seconds ago. _

"_Alex." Natalie answered for him._

"_Yeah, Alex. Where is she? And have you given her any kind of explanation of what happened to her and her Uncle?" _

_Natalie gave a small shrug. "Not yet. I haven't had the time yet. She was passed out in my car the entire ride here and she slept through the night. I wasn't going to wake her up and be like, oh hey let me explain to you that a freaking monster attacked you and your uncle."_

"_Well, when you put it like that, it sounds beyond crazy." Dean retorted, which made Natalie scoff._

"_Dean. Everything about our lives is crazy." _

_Monster? _Alex finally reached the room and stopped to look in, finding a large group of people sitting around, some were standing. "Wow, that is a lot of people." Alex couldn't help but comment on it.

Everyone paused and turned to look at Alex, a bandaged stuck to her forehead and a huge bruise on her right cheek. Alex gave every single person a look and she noted how only three out of the five guys were really good looking. Of course that would be the first thing to pop into her mind, typical Alex. One was just enormous in his height with long hair, the other was a little shorter in comparison, still he would tower over Alex and he had short, slightly spiked, hair and the other was really young, looked to be about Natalie's age.

Alex's gaze landed on Dean, who was still staring at her and with the silence still present, she shifted her weight to one leg. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Alex asked, directing her question at Dean, since he was the last person she looked at.

Dean shook his head. "That's just a nasty bruise you got there."

"Thanks for the reminder." Alex crossed her arms over her chest and held them close to her. "So, what's going on here? It looks like one of those secret business meetings that I shouldn't stumble in on."

Natalie stood up from her seat and walked over to her, making sure to leave some distance between them. "How are you feeling?"

Alex shrugged. "My face hurts. Other than that, I'm fine. Well, not that fine."

Natalie gave a single nod. "Right." She made a quick glance back at the group and then focused her gaze on Alex. "Well, there are some people you haven't met. So, uh. You already met my Aunt Clara."

Alex gave a smile to Clara, who returned it. Alex remembered waking up sometime during the night to see two women standing next to her. One was blonde haired and the other was Clara. She was only able to stay awake for a few seconds before drifting back to sleep.

"Okay. So, that's Bobby Singer. Jake and his dad, David." Natalie pointed to each one and then came to Sam and Dean. "And this is Sam Winchester and…you already exchanged words with his brother Dean." Natalie finished as she turned back to Alex.

The young woman took a moment to put each name to the faces. Alex was very good at remembering names, so this shouldn't be to hard for her. When she came back round to Dean, she could see the hunter eyeing her. Not exactly in the old fashioned checking someone out, it was just, sizing her up. Why was he doing it? Alex had no idea.

"You like what you're seeing?" Alex finally asked, which seemed to take Dean by surprise.

Instead of coming up with some witty remark, Dean allowed his head to bow slightly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to seem like a creep."

Alex nodded, accepting his apology, though she wasn't really looking for one. "So, are you guys going to tell me what the hell happened? Or am I just going to be kept in the dark?"

"Right." Natalie turned back and she silently conveyed something to Bobby, Dean and Sam. It was something that Alex noticed, but of course, she couldn't read what was being said. Natalie reached for a small brown journal on the table, before turning back to Alex. "We're gonna need to talk to you in private. So...just follow me."

Natalie lead the way out of the room, with Alex right behind her and Sam, Dean and Bobby following. Reaching the study, Natalie opened the door and motioned for Alex to walk in. Alex took a seat at the table in the study as Natalie sat across from her. Bobby, Dean and Sam stood behind Natalie, all of them leaning against a part of the wall.

"Alright. Let's start at the beginning." Natalie began. "What do you remember from that night?"

Alex blinked a couple of times, waiting for the memory to come back to her, which really surprised her. Alex would've thought that what she went through that night would be at the forefront of her mind. But, the pain that was pounding in her head was very much the reasoning why she was taking longer to remember.

"Um. After I dropped you off at the motel, I went back to my Uncle's house, I knew he didn't eat anything, so I was gonna go and give him the food from the restaurant. I get there, sure as hell, he's in his study, looking up information for you."

Natalie's gaze lowered to her hands, which were folded together on top of the table. But, she still nodded at Alex's words.

"I talked to him for about ten minutes and I decided to stay there for the night. I was too tired and I didn't want to drive all the way back out to my apartment. So, I go upstairs, get ready for bed...and that's when I heard him talking to someone. At first I thought it was a little weird, it was late, but I know he's done it before. But, then, I could hear a fight going on."

Alex's face scrunched up as she tried to think back on the rest that happened. But, the senseless pounding that she was experiencing was making it rather difficult. _I need to remember to ask for painkillers. _

Natalie was starting to feel a little uneasy by how bothered Alex was getting. By the looks of it, it was her head that was bothering her. She was almost tempted to just cut off the discussion and to allow Alex more time to rest, but the young woman continued on.

"Anyway, I ran downstairs and into the study and there's this...guy just hitting him. Stupid me, I tried to stop it and that's when I got this." Alex motioned at the bandaged area on her forehead. "He got a few more hits in on me and I remember that I was lying on the ground, starting to slowly lose consciousness...but, I could still see my uncle getting the living shit beaten out of him."

Alex grew quiet for a moment as the very memory began to replay. "After losing consciousness, when I woke up...that's when you were there and then everything just...went to black again. So are you guys going to tell me why this happened?"

Natalie turned to look at the others, who simply gave her a nod. Turning back to Alex, Natalie pulled out a small journal, her lips pursing to the side before finally sliding the object towards Alex. "Before we explain anything, you might want to read this then."

Alex stared at the small journal that Natalie pushed towards her and her eyes looked back up to her. Natalie only raised her brows and motioned for Alex to read. Alex reached forward, her hand resting on the leather for a moment before sliding the journal towards her. As she pulled off the strap, Alex gazed up at the four of them, seeing a very intense look on all of their faces. They were expecting something, most likely, her reaction and that just made her really nervous.

Regardless of how nervous she felt, Alex read through the pages. The handwriting was a little difficult to read, prompting her to have to concentrate on a particular word or sentence before she was able to make out what it said. But, what she was reading, baffled her completely.

_Ghosts, werewolves, vampires...wendigo. What the hell is a Wendigo? _

These surprising words were accompanied by various sketches of what the subject looked like and nearly all of the entries had a way of killing these things. Alex was beginning to dispel everything that she was reading and as she continued on with the pages, her disbelief seemed to start to dwindle. These pages were _full. _The information that she was reading was to incredibly detailed and precise to be made up...but it had to be. This whole damn journal was talking about monsters.

Once she was done reading, Alex slowly laid the book down and looked up at them. She was immensely confused and probably had a huge bundle of questions for them. Instead, she just settled for perhaps the most obvious one. "What the hell did I just read?"

Natalie took in a breath, trying to map out in her mind how to exactly explain this to her. "Everything in this journal...it's all true."

Alex stared blankly at Natalie and then slowly made her rounds with the others before letting out a hum. "Okay. I am officially in a house full of crazy people."

"Alex." Sam began. "I know this may sound crazy and you probably think we are...but, Nad is telling the truth. Everything in that journal...it's real."

"What you just read..." Natalie motioned at the journal in Alex's hand. "It's my father's journal. He, along with Sam, Dean, Bobby, my Aunt Clara, David, Jake and myself...we're what you call, hunters. And we go out and...kill these things."

Alex shook her head and let out a few laughs. "You all are definitely insane."

"We're not insane." Dean retorted and Natalie could hear the hint of a small annoyance growing on him. Dean _really _disliked being labeled as insane, especially when it involved telling the truth.

"No. You have to be. Because this..." Alex raised up the journal. "This thing right here just told me that monsters are real. Everyone knows that they-"

"They are real." Dean interrupted. "Every single monster or creature that you can think of...they're real."

Alex's eyes lowered as she began to search through her mind for a random creature. "So, does that mean that Bigfoot is real as well?" Alex asked and her curiosity was genuine.

"Bigfoot? No. I'm pretty sure that thing is a fable." Dean answered, giving her a small look.

"But, you just said that these monsters are real. Isn't Bigfoot in that category?"

Natalie shifted in her seat. "Well, there hasn't really been a case that calls for us to go out and hunt...a Bigfoot. It's most likely something else..something different to what you all perceive as a Bigfoot.."

Alex leaned back in her seat. "Well, that's disappointing."

The five of them descended into silence, the hunters were giving Alex as much time as she needed to try and accept what she had read.

"So, you're telling me that all the things I was afraid of as a kid, they are legit? There are such things as monsters under the bed and vampires that stalk you and that thing that goes bump in the night is a ghost?"

The four hunters merely nodded their affirmation.

Alex huffed out a breath and scratched at the side of her face. "And to think, adults always told us that there's no such thing as monsters. If only they knew...wait, so, what was it that attacked us that night?"

"It was...a Leviathan." Natalie answered and Alex was able to catch the hesitation in her voice. There was good reason for it.

The familiarity of the name struck Alex like a wave and her face immediately tensed. "Leviathan...you and my uncle were looking up information about them. And the one that attacked us said that...they didn't want him snooping around. The Leviathan it's a monster basically...that makes sense because..."

Alex paused as she began to be motions to her face. "I remember this one moment...his face it just...kind of, I don't even know. I was so knocked out at that point. I thought I was just seeing things, but now, I know it was real. But, that's what my uncle was researching on."

Natalie could feel her body tense, she knew exactly where Alex was going with this and honestly, she couldn't blame her. "Yeah." It was the only thing that Natalie could say in that moment.

"So. You're telling me that my uncle is dead...because of you."

"Wait a minute." Dean was quick to step on. "Okay, let's just get one thing straight here, what happened, was not Nad's fault..."

"Dean, don't."

"She had absolutely no idea that this was going to happen." Dean continued, despite Natalie's small warning to him. "We aren't even one hundred percent sure on how they tracked her down. But, if you want to put the blame on someone...you blame the Leviathan that actually killed your uncle."

Alex merely stared at Dean, grief, confusion and now anger were swirling in her eyes. "The only way, they could've known about us, was through her. If she had not gone to my uncle for help, none of this would have happened."

"You never know."

"Really?" Alex's tone was starting to get heated. "Clearly, my uncle was getting somewhere with his research and they didn't want that. What was the instigator for him to even go and read about them? It was Natalie coming to him for help. I even heard the Leviathan say that digging for info on them was a real mistake on his part. So, if he hadn't done that, everything would be fine. Am I wrong?"

Dean grew quiet, he couldn't say that she was wrong, because truthfully, Alex was speaking the truth. But, to pin the whole blame on Natalie, that wasn't something he would settle for.

"You have every right to be pissed about what happened. But, you need to be pointing it at the right person."

Alex ticked her head to the side, her eyes glaring at Dean. "You know, I just lost my uncle. And you really think that you can dictate where I put the blame? Seems really stupid of you."

Both Dean and Alex descended into a silent stare down. With each second, Dean's expression softened, while Alex's stayed the same. Cold and hard. Alex took a moment to gather herself and pressed her hands down on the table, helping to push herself back up onto her feet. Without saying anything else, Alex left the room, leaving the rest of them in an awkward, tense silence. But, it was soon interrupted when Natalie threw a hit to Dean's arm, which she immediately regret after feeling her ribs begin to throb.

Dean looked down at her with wide eyes. "What the hell was that for?"

"Why did you do that?" Natalie quickly questioned.

Dean's eyes widened even more as he raised his arm up. "Sorry. I thought that I would try and defend you in this."

"No, Dean. There's nothing to defend, because she's right."

"Oh, come on, Nad."

"I'm not being melodramatic here. Everything she said was right. I went to him, even you guys told me not to go anywhere. Of course, I was too stubborn to listen to any of you. They must've saw me talking with him, overheard our conversation, I don't know. One thing I am sure about is that I'm not innocent in all of this. How else would they know about them?"

Natalie was waiting for Dean to retort with some comeback, but instead, all Natalie got was Dean turning around and making his way out of the study. "Where are you going? Dean?" Natalie quickly shot up from her chair, only to pause halfway, her body hunching over.

Bobby quickly rushed over to her, easing her back into the chair. "Okay. Just take it easy, Nad."

"God." Natalie hissed out. "Bobby, please make sure Dean doesn't do something stupid."

Bobby waited to make sure that Natalie was fine and settled in the chair before nodding his head. "Okay."

Natalie watched Bobby leave and then settled her back against the chair, breathing out a deep breath she hung her head back and closed her eyes. "You haven't really said anything since you got here." She finally said to the last person standing in the room with her. "You conjuring up some kind of lecture for me."

"I think I've lectured you on things well enough, Nad. Besides, there would be no point in it." Sam walked over towards Natalie and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her.

"Yeah." Natalie leaned her head back up and finally looked at Sam. "Except this time, I think I might've outdone myself with not listening. And look where that has gotten us. Someone is dead and another person hates my guts."

"I think it's a little far off to say that Alex hates you, Nad."

"Are you kidding?" Natalie huffed out a laugh. "After all that she said. Yeah, there's no doubt that she does. But, I can't blame her."

"There's no use in being so hard on yourself. Like, Dean said, you had no idea that this was going to happen."

"Yeah. Well, it wasn't worth it. Because I didn't get any new information them, other than this." Natalie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small folded piece of paper and handed it to Sam. She had completely forgotten to show it to the others during their discussion.

Sam took the paper and unfolded it, but, his confusion was resolved. It only grew once he read the words. "Written word of what?" He asked looking up at her.

Natalie shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm sure, though, that's what he was wanting to talk to me about." Natalie gently took the piece of paper back and shoved it back into her pocket. Bracing her hand on the chair arm, she sorely pushed herself up to her feet.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, following in suit and taking a hold of her arm.

"I'm going to talk with Caden. There's more answers that I want from him." Natalie smiled in thanks as he helped her. "You want to come with me?"

* * *

"Dean." Bobby called out as he followed the hunter, who was making his way towards the front door. Once he was close enough, Bobby took a hold of his arm and forced Dean to a stop. "What are you doing?"

Dean looked back at Bobby, confused as to why Bobby was stopping him. In a quick manner, Dean pulled his arm from Bobby's hand. "Nothing. I just want to get some air, alright? A lot happened in just a span of a day, I think I need a little break. Is that so bad?"

Bobby looked like he was about to say something, but Dean didn't want to hear it. "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything." Dean assured him.

He didn't wait for Bobby to say anything, Dean just needed to get out of the house, just for a few minutes. Just like what he told Bobby, a lot happened in just a matter of a day. After Natalie left for Omaha, things just seemed to take a turn for the worse.

Walking out onto the porch, Dean walked towards the porch railing and placed his hands down on the wood. Hunching down, Dean allowed his head to hang and his eyes closed as he took in a few breaths.

"What are you so tense about?" A voice appeared from behind Dean and he quickly turned to find Alex sitting in one of the porch chairs, her knees her up against her chest and arms wrapped around them.

Dean shook his head and pushed away from the railing. "Sorry, didn't know you where out here. I'll just uh.."

"You don't have to leave you know." Alex said, arms tightening around her knees. "I mean it's not like I own the entire porch."

"Listen, uh, I'm sorry about what happened back in there...with you know, me going all..."

Alex looked up at Dean, her head tilted to the side and her brow raised up. "Are you having trouble trying to form the right words?"

Dean closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "Just...sorry about what happened in there."

"It's fine." Alex answered. "You were just defending a friend. I would've done the same."

"How are you doing?" Dean requested, although, Alex could hear genuine sincerity in his voice.

"Are you trying to be my therapist or something?" Alex inquired, though there was a light tone to her voice.

Dean merely shrugged at her question. "Just thought you'd want to talk."

"About what?"

"Anything." Dean turned and faced Alex, his body leaned against the railing. "I know that what you're going through isn't easy."

Alex was slightly intrigued now as she knitted her brows together. "What, you've been through it before?"

"Many times."

Alex frowned, her nails grazing over her arm. "Sorry."

Dean nodded, accepting her apology. "You know, it really isn't Nad's fault. The Leviathan's are responsible for what happened to you and your uncle. They're the ones who deserve the blame."

Alex moved around in her seat, him bringing up the subject seemed to have damaged whatever kind of tranquility that was forming between them. "Well, grief can do crazy things to you. Make you say things."

"Do you really blame her?"

"I don't know. I really don't know what I'm thinking or feeling right now. Everything is just bleak and...numb."

"I know the feeling."

Dean admitted to himself that he was actually happy to hear Alex say this. Back in the house, she seemed hell bent on keeping the blame on Natalie, but, this was a better answer to him.

"So, how long have you known?" Alex's question brought Dean out from his mindset.

"About what?"

"About the whole, monsters are real thing. I mean, growing up, I had those typical childhood fears. There's something in my closet or under the bed. I don't know, the fact that I was just told that all of it is real...don't really know how to take it."

"I didn't think that you would be taking that information easily. Trust me. I grew up with this knowledge and...it can really mess with you."

"How old were you?"

"Four."

"What the hell? Why were you so young?"

Dean knew that this question was going to be brought up, but still, hearing it, he could feel a small sense of dread that he would dwell back into it. Grabbing one of the extra chairs, he pulled it over and settled it in front of Alex, then took a seat. "Because something happened to my family and everything changed for us after that."

Alex leaned forward in her chair, towards Dean, her hands folding in her lap. "What happened?"

Dean's expression fell at the memory."My mom was killed." Dean could see Alex's eyes grow heavy with sympathy and any harshness that may have developed between them in the house, it seemed to have melted away in that moment. "And that sent my dad on this insane path to find the thing that killed her and he dragged my brother and I along."

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean for you to think about that."

"It's-it's fine."

"So, did you ever find the thing that killed her?" Alex asked, she was treading very lightly. It didn't take a genius to know that this was a sensitive subject for him.

"Yeah, we did. Eventually. And we killed the son of a bitch."

"Well..." Alex let out a timid laugh. "At least you got the thing."

Dean nodded silently.

"Does anyone know what's going on down in Omaha? Concerning my uncle?" This Alex's attempt to change the subject. Unfortunate that it wasn't a lighter subject, but, at least Dean wouldn't have to talk about his past.

Dean cleared his throat, a little relieved that Alex was the one to change the subject. "David and Jake went down there. Someone had already called the police by the time they got there. Your uncle was taken to the morgue."

"Was the...Leviathan still there?"

Dean shook his head. "By the time they got there, it was gone. So far, we don't know what kills these things. We've tried, shooting them and now, chopping off their heads is not an option."

"But, you are going to find out how to kill them...right?"

Dean detected the hope in Alex's voice, this thing took away her family. He was surprised that she hasn't said anything about going after the thing herself. Though, it was probably a sensible thing that she stayed out of it. "We're going to find out how and we will get them. Especially the one that killed your uncle."

Alex nodded. "And now, I'm gonna have to deal with his house, estate...everything."

"You're going to go back down to Omaha?"

Alex shrugged and brushed her finger over her palm. "What choice do I have? That's where my job is, my home, friends. I can't just up and disappear. I'm gonna have to go back."

"Maybe not."

"No. That might be your way of doing things Dean, but, it's not mine. I made a life for myself down in Omaha with my uncle..." Alex cringed at her mentioning him. "And now that's all gone."

"Why were you living with your uncle? Something happen between you and your parents?"

"Yeah. They died." Alex answered and the spite in her voice caught Dean a little off guard and Alex seemed to have caught onto it quickly. "Sorry. But, they passed away and I went to live with him. That's how I ended up at my uncle's doorstep."

"I'm sorry. Well, welcome to the club."

A small grim huff came from Alex. "Glad I could join. It's weird how the one thing we all have in common is death."

"Not as weird as you would think."

"It's sad."

Dean clapped his hands together, causing Alex to jump in her seat. "Let's change the subject. Where are you from?"

"Well that was a huge switch in topics."

"Just trying to get away from all of this...depressing matters. Sue me."

Alex grinned. "Born in Massachusetts. Raised in Rhode Island. What about you?"

"Born in Kansas."

"Oh." Her brows raised high and her mouth formed into a smile. "So you're a Kansas boy. Not to bad. So, are you a big fan of _Kansas_?"

Dean pondered on the question for a small amount of time. At first, he was confused, he thought she meant the state which he thought was an odd question. But, soon the realization of her question finally dawned and he gave her a look. "Really?"

Alex cringed to herself as she repeated the question over in her mind and she shook her head. But, nonetheless, she had a huge smile written on her face. "Wow that was really bad. I'm sorry I just hit you with perhaps my worst possible attempt at a joke."

Dean merely shrugged, feeling like he was about smile. "It was a little amusing."

"No that was just an embarrassment." Alex stood up from the porch chair she had been sitting in and made her way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked quickly.

"I'm going to go wallow in my own self disappointment."

Dean only gave Alex an unconvinced look. "Kidding. I'm actually kind of tired. Been a...weird day. It's gonna take a little to adjust to all of this."

"Yeah."

Alex reached for the handle, opening the door halfway before stopping and turning to him. "It was nice talking to you Dean." Alex gave him a tired smile before walking into the house.

Dean sat in silence, his eyes still glue on the door, which had now closed and finally the smile he had felt earlier, appeared. "Nice talking to you to Alex."

* * *

Sam placed a hand on Natalie's shoulder, prompting her to stop and turn to him. "Are you sure you want to question him right now?" Sam asked, both him and Natalie were standing outside of Caden's bedroom door.

"Why wouldn't I?" Natalie questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe you might want to rest a little bit more."

Natalie blew out a tired breath.

"I'm sorry, okay, it just looks like you are seriously about to pass out. You've been really bothered by your ribs, so maybe you just need to rest more."

"I'm fine." Natalie quickly assured. "I really want to know what happened to him."

"Okay, let's go."

Natalie gently knocked on the door and heard Caden's voice just barely reaching a loud enough volume, but she took it as her sign to go on. Natalie and Sam walked in, finding Caden was still lying in bed, huge bandages were covering the cut down his chest and his face was no longer bloody. Just really bruised. Not to mention that there was a huge sigil drawn on the wall behind the bed.

"What's with that?" Natalie asked, her head motioning at the sigil.

"It's so that the angels won't be able to track me."

Natalie nodded and made her way over to the bed, taking a careful seat on the edge of the mattress. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was before. Your sister is very good with taking care of injuries." Caden admired the bandages on his body.

"Yeah, that's Mari. It's what she does for a living." Natalie inquired, giving a quick smile at how Caden seemed to be so fascinated by whatever Marina did to help him. "Anyway. I was wondering if we could talk about something. Actually, it's about the time that you were gone."

Caden's light expression was switched off as he looked back up at her and nodded. "I was waiting for you to resume your questioning."

"Is it alright if we can talk about it?" Natalie asked.

"It's fine."

"Okay." Natalie blew out a relieved breath. "The night you and Castiel left the lab. What happened after that?"

"He took me to Heaven, like I said back at the motel. And he...handled me in his own way."

"So, he basically beat the shit out of you."

Caden cleared his throat and gave a half nod. "If that's what you all call it down here, then yes. He could've easily ended me there. But, he decided that was to easy for me. He had me locked away."

"Heaven jail." Sam repeated.

"Very much so. To house angels who went against God's orders. Well, Castiel had me locked away in a different section of the jail where they...torture angels. And that's why I'm so weak. My grace is...fairly scant."

Natalie furrowed her brows together. "Your grace?"

"It's what makes me an angel. Everything-our abilities, self-healing, our ways of transport, it's all through our grace."

Natalie nodded, finally understanding why he arrived at the motel bruised and bloodied. "So, that's why you couldn't heal yourself...it's because of your grace. Can't you just recharge?"

"Not exactly. My grace is not something that I can just...charge." He gave a confused cringe at using the word. "You either have it or you don't. Most angels would get their grace taken from them and if they're occupying a vessel, they become human."

"So, are you, human?" Natalie questioned.

"Well, not exactly, but, I'm close. I can't recharge any of it. I can do certain things. My fighting has dwindled and I can only get to one place at a time. It drains me completely."

Sam walked up to the foot of the bed, his hand resting against the bed railing. "What did they do with your grace?"

"Most of the time, they keep it, in Heaven. I don't know where, but, they have it."

"Is there any way we can get it back?" Sam continued.

"No. If there was a way, it would be a suicide mission. I'll just have to adjust to what I have now. As long as I am given time to heal from my wounds, I should fine." Caden pushed himself up more, straightening his back against the headboard. "I believe it's my turn for questions."

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, sure go ahead."

"Where's Castiel?"

"Right. Um. After he, left you in Heaven, Cas came back down and was killing people who were sinners I guess you could say. Clan groups dismembered, several priests were killed, he just went on this rampage. And then finally he came to us for help. Before, we had tried to stop him by asking Death for help. Eventually, Cas realized that he wouldn't be able to control it and that he was getting out of hand."

"The souls must have been breaking apart his vessel. That's too much power for an angel to handle."

"Yeah. We, uh, got him back to the lab, because the only way to help him was to get the souls back to Purgatory. And we managed to do it. But..."

"What?" Caden's eyes narrowed at Natalie.

"A group called the Leviathan held on inside Cas." Natalie explained. "They used him so that they could disperse and Cas was just...gone."

"Castiel is gone." Caden repeated and he blinked several times, finding it difficult to wrap his head around the idea. "The last thing any of the angels heard from him, it was this warning. To all of Raphael's followers. There was nothing but confusion. But, the Leviathan are out of Purgatory."

"Yeah." Natalie confirmed. She took a quick glance back at Sam, before continuing. "We already encountered a few. That thing down in Omaha, was one of them."

"Castiel was foolish." Caden shook his head. "He should have listened to everyone who told him not to open the gates to Purgatory."

"Well it's too late to think about it now." Natalie said. "It happened and now we have a freaking Leviathan infestation going on."

Sam slipped a hand onto Natalie's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. "Caden, do you have any idea who Leviathan are?" He went onto ask.

Caden had seen the small action and his eyes switched from Sam and Natalie, but ultimately had to bring himself out of it. "Well, they were God's first creation and he placed them on earth. But, they became too dangerous to keep, so that's where Purgatory comes from."

"Right. So that God could lock them up and not have to worry about them. Anything else?" Natalie could feel herself becoming a little annoyed. That was something they had already known, it didn't help to hear it repeated several times.

"Well, most of the information on the Leviathans has been written down. Part of the Word of God."

"The Word of God?" Natalie repeated. Her mind suddenly went to the piece of paper that she found in Alan's hand. _Written word of... That has to be it. _"What is the Word of God?"

"It's a series of tablets written by the Scribe of God. However, the exact contents of what is written on the tablet, I don't know what it is."

"Where is the tablet?" Natalie asked.

"I don't know. Not even the angels know where it is. God had these written down before he left and when he did leave Heaven, the tablet just...disappeared, along with the Scribe."

"Well, that's just great. The only hard source we have on the Leviathans is nowhere to be found and..." Natalie turned in her seat to look at Sam, who was leaning against the wall. "I wouldn't even know where to start looking."

"We'll talk with Bobby, see what we can do."

"The Leviathan are out of Purgatory." Sam and Natalie turn both of their attentions back to Caden. "You have no idea what these things are capable of. I saw what they did before God had to lock them away. We're going to need to get this under control."

Sam nodded. "We will Caden. Don't worry. We'll...find some way to stop them."

Natalie stood up from the chair. "I'm going to let you get some more rest." Turning to Sam they both made their way towards the door, "We can talk more later. Just rest."

Natalie offered Caden a quick smile before walking out of the room, with Sam following behind her. Pausing in the hallway, Natalie turned to Sam and leaned her back against the wall. Once Sam closed the door, he around, a little surprised to just seeing her standing there.

"What?"

"How are you feeling? I know that we've all been a little preoccupied...I didn't even get a chance to see how you are."

Sam shrugged limply and looked down at the scar on his palm, while gently rubbing his thumb over the healed flesh. "I'm fine." He responded, keeping his gaze down on his hand.

"Are you really?"

Natalie looked down at Sam rubbing his scar, prompting her to reach forward and took a hold of his hand. Turning it palm side up, Natalie took a quick view of the scar, then allowed her thumb to ghost over it. "The past few weeks seemed to be a little hit and miss. You were dazing off a lot, like something was catching your attention."

"What did you expect? My head isn't fixed and it won't be. Those were just me having a little bit of a moment. It wasn't anything to serious."

Natalie looked up at Sam, her eyes fixing on him in a light stare. "Is this going to be just like last time? When you kept from us that you were hallucinating. It wasn't until it got to a bad point that you finally told us."

Sam leaned his head back and the long drawn out sigh that he did told Natalie that he didn't want to have this conversation.

"Listen, I know okay." Natalie began. "You're getting tired of us constantly asking. I get it, it's what I go through with all of you. But, this isn't something that can be viewed at with half concern."

"You're going to ask me to promise to tell you if it gets worse, aren't you?" Sam asked, his head leaning down so that he was looking at her.

"No. Because I know you. Even if you did promise, you wouldn't say anything, because that's who you are. So, I'm going to put my trust in you that...if it does get bad, then you will say something. I'm hoping you will at least. Deal?"

Sam nodded. "Okay. Deal."

Natalie looked back down at their entwined hands and a small smile tugged at her lips. "You know I just about something, just to try and lighten up the mood."

Sam ticked his head to the side. "What?"

She looked up at him, her smile still evident. "My ribs have been bruised beyond belief and that combined with the fact that all the beds in the cabin are singles..."

Sam's brows knitted together, but the way Natalie's brows raised and a small smile played at her lips, it was enough to get Sam's mind working quicker. Finally, his expression fell and he nodded. "Right. Well, this really sucks."

Natalie huffed out a laugh, which diminished into a hiss. "Mari thinks it would be best if I just...stayed on my own until I was healed enough."

"So, she knows about..."

"Yeah. I didn't see any point of keeping it from her."

"Fair enough."

Natalie enclosed her hand over his and began to lead them out of the hallway and towards the staircase. "I'll show you where you and Dean are going to be staying."

"By the way," Sam began as they ascended the stairs. "how was the whole bed thing supposed to lighten the mood?"

* * *

Caden quietly closed the bedroom door and took his steps lightly as he walked towards the front door. Right as he stepped out of the door, he could feel a sense of vulnerability hit him. The house was literally his protection. The sigil he had drawn in his room would ensure that none of the angels would be able to find him. But, what he was doing couldn't be done in the house. Most likely, someone would catch him in the act.

Closing the last few buttons of his coat, Caden walked off the porch and stood himself towards the middle of the front lawn. He gazed up at the night sky, this time, he was taking more of an appreciation of how the stars light up the darkness. It was never something he really noticed or cared for.

"You've been doing a good job with keeping yourself under the radar."

Caden turned, finding a young woman looking at him. Shoulder length dark brown hair, dark green jacket and black jeans that flared at the bottom, covering her shoes which were a dirty gray color.

"Sarah." Caden calmly greeted. "I have to now." Caden took a few steps towards her. "Ever since breaking out of Heaven, can't really afford to be out in the open. Except for now, which is why I don't have long."

"Why couldn't I have just gone to see you in there?" Sarah nodded towards the cabin behind him.

"I didn't want to risk any of them seeing us together." Caden explained, which Sarah only acknowledged with a nod. "How are things in Heaven?"

"It's chaotic. Several individuals are trying to gain enough followers. Caden there might even be another civil war for another leader. Where is Castiel?"

"He's gone Sarah. The Leviathan's used him as a way to disperse themselves. I talked with Natalie and she explained it to me."

"Right." She slowly nodded her head. "Natalie. Well, I can tell you that the angels aren't happy with you, right now. They found the angels you killed and are going to start sending out others to look for you."

Caden looked down in thought. "Do they know that you helped me to get out?"

"Not yet." Sarah took a quick surveillance around her. "But, I have a feeling soon, they will find out. They are trying their absolute hardest to finding out how you escaped."

"We need to try and keep it so that they don't know about your involvement."

"You shouldn't have went against Castiel in the first place Caden." Sarah was quick to scold. "That was not part of the plan."

Caden gave her a quick shrug. "Things changed Sarah."

"That's right." Her face changed into annoyance. "She came into the picture and completely changed your way of thinking."

"Not everything." Caden corrected."She and the Winchesters, I think they are becoming apart of the plan."

"The type of grip she has on you and the loyalty you show her, that's not what we needed."

"I needed to get her to trust me, didn't I?" Caden's question made Sarah go silent. "Don't be so quick to talk against Natalie. You know nothing about her."

"And like you do?" Sarah retorted, putting Caden on the spot, but it was only met with silence. "How do we even know that they would be able to find the tablet?"

"I told them about it, not the entirety, but they know that it exists and that it's out there. They'll find it. If I need to remind you about what happened when Lucifer got out of the cage..." Caden assured.

"No thanks to Sam Winchester."

"They all dealt with it." Caden finished. "They all paid a price for it, especially Sam. Don't discredit them when you haven't even given them a chance."

Sarah folded her arms over her chest and cleared her throat. "And what about the other tablets? I heard Seraphiel talking about them as well."

"That's not our concern right now." Caden's tone soon turned hard. "We have the Leviathans to worry about. We focus on that first and then we'll worry about the rest. Those other tablets, we have no idea where they are."

"Isn't that where the Winchesters and Natalie come in? How about you set them up so that they can get on the right path?"

"One thing...at a time, Sarah." Caden said. "The Leviathans are the number one priority. We need to neutralize this threat. The other tablets don't have any importance to this right now. We'll worry about it later."

"What are you going to do then?" Sarah went on to question. "Stick around with them and do what?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know." Sarah repeated, her arms falling to her side. "Well, the rest of your grace, it needs to be restored to you. Now, I can try..."

"No, Sarah. Maybe, we can work on finding a place for me to go. But, don't try and retrieve the rest of my grace."

"Then, what do you want to do?"

"I need you to find a location where we can meet. Make sure it's where the angel's won't be able to find me."

"Fine." Sarah fixed the zipper on her jacket. "You know, Naomi is probably going to want to talk with you as soon as I establish a location."

"Is she one of the angels trying to gain control up there?" Caden asked.

"She wants to be. But, I'm not sure how well she's doing with that." Sarah answered.

"Well, when you get the location let me know. And if she wants to talk with me, then I'll be waiting."

* * *

**So, how did you all like it? What did you think about the ending? Let me know! **

**Don't forget to follow me on tumblr! Send me a message or whatever you like. I've been doing a few posts about my possible sequel series so if any of you are interested in that, just head on over!**

**Review Responses:**

**Marloweee1856: **I am so glad that you like chapter 3! IT WAS LIKE A SATALIE PARADE IN THAT CHAPTER! It gave me a lot of feels while writing it! And I know how you feel, I want to hug Nad so badly. And trust me, Sam is NEVER going to hurt Nad like that. Ever. And I am SO glad that you like Alex and I hope her behavior in this chapter hasn't hurt it at all! :) And yes Caden is back. For how long, I am actually not quite sure about that. But, how do you feel about the end?

**January Lily: **AHHH! IM SO GLAD THAT YOU LOVE ALEX! I was really worried that I didn't do her entrance right, but, now that I think about it, I think it was the perfect way to introduce her. I hope her little conversation with Dean was a likable scene for you! :) the Dealex feels will slowly be building (at least I hope). Honestly, I am so glad that Caden is your favorite oc angel. I was kinda worried that he wouldn't be a popular character and I think the ending of this chapter might solidify that for some people. OOPS! If you want to borrow him, GO RIGHT AHEAD SWEETIE!

**Sarahmichellegellarfan1: **Yes, when Natalie said that she and Sam slept together, it literally just meant slept. They did not have sex. That won't happen for a little while longer. And I am glad that you like Alex. I hope she continues to grow on you and every reader.


	6. Asylum Take Two

_A'N: Honestly, I can keep on saying I'm sorry, but, I think that gets a little tiring. But, I really am sorry for these waits. Hopefully, I'll be able to get into the full swing of things. Also, there is a poll on my profile and I would really love it if you all would go and check it out! Also, this chapter is inspired by the episode Asylum in season 1, but, I made my own little version of it. Without further ado, here is the next chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

Tensions at the cabin were not over the top, but, it was something that was so palpable. Most of it was coming from Alex and Natalie. Both of them, whenever they were in the same room, would simply ignore each other. Not one word would be passed between them. Alex kept quiet for various reasons. She still didn't know how she felt about Natalie and the whole situation that happened a few days ago. Second, Alex was simply grieving. Keeping quiet was her own way of coping from this. Much like how Natalie has dealt with the events that happened to her over the years. And Natalie simply didn't want to bother Alex. If Alex really did hate and blame Natalie for what happened, Natalie didn't want to initiate anything else. She was giving Alex space.

The only person that Alex really had conversations with, was Dean. Alex found that whenever she talked with him, she felt, at ease. Plus, it was really easy to make up a conversation with him. Dean was someone who just simply went along with it. He wasn't the only person she switched words with. Clara and Marina were good at holding small talk and Alex finally got to really meet Caden. Although, she was dragged deeper into all of this "supernatural" stuff after learning he was an angel. That wasn't exactly something she was expecting to hear, but, she wasn't as shocked by it. After all, this was coming after the event of learning that monsters are real. Angels were good. At least, that's what she initially thought. Dean's whole rant about what the angels have done in the past really changed Alex's view on them.

_"They really sound like absolute dicks." _

But, Caden was different and from what she was able to gather from the others, he was there with Natalie and helped get her out. Seems like a nice angel in her book. Alex was coming to the end of her stay here. She was almost completely healed and staying her any longer isn't exactly an option for her. She already had to call her work and take off a few days and her boss has no problem with that. Since, she had just lost her uncle, which was the talk of the town at the moment, much to her dismay. It was a subject that was finally brought up, even though it made almost everyone uncomfortable.

...

_"What exactly are you going to do?" _

_Alex looked up at Dean, who was sitting across from her at the table. Her eyes moved around to Bobby, Sam and Natalie, who were all standing towards the back of the room. "I have to go back to Omaha." _

_Dean gave her a cautious look. "Are you sure that's what you wanna do?" _

_Alex shrugged. "What else is there for me to do? I can't just up and disappear. I have friends down in Omaha who are probably worried sick about me right now." Alex lowered her gaze, realizing that she had failed to call any of them and let them know that she was safe and alive. _

_"Yeah, but..." Dean paused and looked back at Bobby, who gave Dean a small shake of the head. _

_"What?" Alex asked, having seen the silent interaction._

_Dean licked at his lips before turning back to her. "The problem is that, we don't know exactly what the Leviathan's full motives are. And they've already seen your face and they know who you are." _

_"What, you think that they might come back after me?" _

_"It's a possibility." _

_"Why?" Alex questioned. "I don't know anything about what my uncle was looking for. I'll have nothing to tell them." _

_"By the way these things act, they don't care." Dean answered. "They're basically just killing machines, doing whatever the hell they want." _

_"Well then, I'll take my chances. I need to go down there and...settle some things. Sell the house. I can't just not go back." _

_"Well." Bobby finally spoke up and walked over towards the table. "At least, let one of us stick around with you, just in case." _

_Alex shook her head, calmly declining the offer. "Thanks, but, I don't need to have people watching me every day." _

_"We don't feel comfortable with you just being there in Omaha on your own." Bobby added._

_"I don't know what to say then. You guys don't have to be worried about me. I'll be fine. Hopefully." Alex's voice lowered towards the end. _

_Dean pursed his lips into a thin line, Alex was stubborn and just the kind of attitude he's been able to encounter from being around her for a few days, he knew nothing was going to change her mind. Alex seemed like the kind of person who, when her mind is made up that's the end of it. But, when Dean turned to the others, they honestly didn't know what to say. They couldn't force Alex to do something she didn't want to and they weren't going to hold her against her will. The only thing that they could do was to let her go._

_Dean turned back to Alex, eyes casted down in thought and then he slowly nodded his head. "Okay." _

_Alex looked up at Dean, surprised. "You're actually going to let me do it." _

_"It doesn't mean we like it, but, we owe it to you. Just, let us give you one of our numbers and if, anything happens, you call us." _

_"Like if a Leviathan comes for me and tries to kill me." _

_Dean paused for a moment, his eyes moving around the room, before he finally nodded. "Yeah. Like that, because, that would be really bad." _

_Alex exhaled and rested her arms over her chest. "Deal."_

….

Alex would be lying if she said that she wasn't relieved. When Bobby suggested that one of them should stay behind with her, she actually kinda panicked a little. Despite the fact that these people have helped her, she still didn't know them hardly at all. To have them snooping around, watching her every move...it was kinda creepy. And Alex would've probably felt less safe with them around like that. But, the fact that she was going back home was both relieving and bitter. Being able to lie in her bed again and walk around in the familiarity of Omaha was a comforting thought. But, knowing that her uncle was no longer there and she would have to deal with the funeral and settling his estate and selling the house. It was all too much to really plan out in the moment. Alex just knows that once she gets there, she's going to take a day for her to rest and recuperate from all she had experienced and learned.

Everyone's stay at the cabin was eventually over. Natalie had to explain to Marina and Clara that it would be best if they stayed here for...well, she didn't know exactly for how long. The Leviathans have no idea about this cabin and Clara has so many aliases, it would take them a while to figure it out. At least, that's what Natalie was hoping for. However, this information was not received lightly by Marina. She couldn't stay in Barnes, she had a job back home that she needed to attend to.

_"Well, tough shit. You need to stay here." _

Natalie didn't have the time or energy to argue with her sister. Her safety was more important to than her nursing job. Clara's eventual stepping in was able to convince Marina to listen and to make her feel better, Clara had called Ethan, telling him to bring Emily to Barnes. Hopefully, that would help calm her sister down. Either way, Natalie didn't like the thought of leaving them behind, but, this cabin was practically out in the middle of nowhere. Much like the one in Montana. They'll be fine.

Then there was the matter of Caden. Common sense, Natalie wasn't going to just leave him here with Clara and Marina. That would just create an all new sense of awkwardness for the three of them. And no doubt, Natalie would be getting frequent calls from Clara and Marina about it. After speaking with Caden and making arrangements with Bobby and the boys, they all agreed that Caden would go with them to the cabin. Even though the angel replied that he had a place that he could go to.

That was a little curious to Natalie, but, she didn't question the matter any further. He was still fairly weak and Natalie was adamant that Caden come back with them. Then, after he was fully healed, he could flutter about and do what he wanted. But, Natalie ensured that there was a way for her to communicate with him. Bobby was able to get Caden his own phone and that was one of the most amusing things Natalie ever had to do. Teach an angel how to use a cell phone. It was only the basics, how to dial a number and how to answer a call. Natalie will always remember the look on Caden's face when he first attempted all of this. She only wish she had been able to photograph it somehow.

After discussing it with Bobby, it was decided that Caden would ride back to the cabin with him, in Natalie's car. Though, she couldn't help, but, laugh at Bobby's expense when she saw the look on his face. Bobby hardly even knew the angel, strengthening the notion that Bobby still didn't trust him too well. And now, he had to share a car with him for a long drive back to Montana. Not exactly something that Bobby was expecting, but, he will suffer through it. Natalie decided to ride back with Sam and Dean. Before they headed out to Montana though, they were going to take Alex back down to Omaha. Natalie and Alex sitting in the backseat together, that ought to be a real joy for everyone.

After all the bags were packed up in the car and Natalie exchanged some last words with Clara and Marina, the six occupants left the cabin. About, three hours into the drive, the two cars split up in opposite directions. Bobby wanted to try and make it to Montana in one drive, Natalie doubted he would be able to. The remaining three hours for the occupants in the Impala was quite uncomfortable and quiet. Sam and Dean, more than on one occasion, would look into the rearview mirror, at Alex and Natalie, noticing that neither of them would look at each other.

They both had this look on their faces, as if, they wanted to say something to each other, but, didn't have the courage too. Dean decided to break the silence by playing music, which did nothing, other than fill the car with noise.

Natalie merely shook her head and leaned against the window. She just wanted to be in Omaha already so Alex can be at home. Kind of made Natalie feel more like a bitch. Essentially, it sounded like she just wanted to kick Alex out of the car and have Dean drive away as fast as he can. And that's not what she wanted, it was just...so awkward.

The two hours came to a slow and painful end, when the Impala entered a highway that went around downtown Omaha. Alex was directing Dean exactly which exit he needed to take and from then on, time really flew by. The next thing Natalie knew, the Impala came to a slow and easy halt. Leaning her head away from the window, she looked out of the car windows, seeing that they were in some neighborhood. And to the right, there were a series of apartment complexes. They were actually rather nice.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Dean asked, his eyes scanning over the neighborhood street.

Alex had been staring at her apartment, when it suddenly hit her that she was back at home and it all felt so different. The normal world she knew was gone and there was an emptiness that she knew was the absence of her uncle.

"Yeah." Alex barely whispered an answer.

Sam caught onto this and he turned back towards her. "You sure you don't want us to stay here?"

Alex shook her head, finally pulling her gaze away from her apartment. "No, I'll be fine." She quickly assured them. Grabbing her jacket from the seat, Alex offered them, even Natalie, a small smile. "Thanks for driving me here."

Dean gave her a small shrug. "It was no problem."

Alex's smile broadened for only a second as she opened the car door and stepped out. She paused on the sidewalk, her eyes moving over the beige colored building and then moved to the side at the row of houses towards the left. _Well, I guess it's good to be back. _

Natalie watched the scene quietly with the boys and as Alex began to walk towards the apartment building, Natalie felt a surge rush through her body. "Hold on." Natalie opened the door and quickly stepped out, feeling her ribs pulsating, but, it didn't stop her though.

Walking around the car, Natalie stepped onto the sidewalk and walked until she was just a few feet behind Alex. "Hey. Alex." Natalie spoke, her hands fiddling with the zipper on her sweater.

Alex paused and slowly turned to look at Natalie. With her eyes staring at her, Natalie, took a few small steps closer.

"Listen..."

Natalie was perplexed at what she was doing here, standing in front of Alex. She had no idea what to say to her. Right here, staring at Alex's tired and heavy eyes, her shoulders were slumping as if she had a physical weight hanging on her. All Natalie could think of was the fact that, _she _did this to Alex. Natalie mentally recalled the story of Alex's parents and could only imagine what that must have done to Alex. And now, Natalie had to live with the fact that she took another family member away from her.

But, Natalie couldn't just let Alex go when the only interaction they had was the smile she gave her in the car. Natalie needed to say something before they left Omaha.

"I know that you probably hate me and that you hold me fully responsible for what happened. And you're right. All of this...is my fault. And if I had known that the Leviathan was going to track me, I would have n_ever _come down here."

Alex's gaze dropped, her mood visibly changing once Natalie began to pick at the topic.

"I really didn't want any of this to happen. I didn't think it…" Natalie couldn't finish the sentence before her own gaze fell and her head hung down. "Alex, I just–I am really, _really,_ sorry for what happened. For..." Natalie shook her head. "For everything."

Alex pursed her lips together and then licked her lips, feeling how dry they were. This was the first time she and Natalie had actually had somewhat of a decent conversation. And after having time to begin her adjustment, Alex knew that she needed to be a bigger person, but, she didn't know if she had the stomach to actually give full forgiveness.

Clearing her throat, Alex looked up and saw how broken and guilt ridden Natalie was. No doubt in Alex's mind this whole situation has been eating away at Natalie since they came to the cabin. Part of her was glad that Natalie felt that way, because, a part of Alex did hold Natalie responsible. But, Alex knew, deep down, it wasn't Natalie's fault. It was just hard for Alex to actually agree with it.

"You know…" Alex finally spoke. "I remember telling you that I wished something big happened…you know, because my life was so slow." Alex paused and huffed out a laugh. "I never thought that this would be the case. You know, with my uncle being...gone and finding out that monsters are real. It all just kinda got thrown in my face. But, I do need to thank you."

Natalie looked up at Alex with her brows furrowed deeply.

"You know, if you hadn't come to the house that night, I would very likely be dead right now. So, thank you."

Natalie couldn't help, but, scoff at Alex's apology. "Why are you thanking me? I couldn't help your uncle...I shouldn't be thanked."

Alex smiled broadly and let out a wet laugh. "Just take the damn gratitude. Because it's honest." The demand was not harsh and it didn't hold any kind of anger to it. Her tone was actually, light, like she was trying to make some kind of joke to lighten the mood between them.

Natalie could sense it and she smiled and nodded, showing her own gratitude through silent gestures. But, Natalie couldn't bring herself to say, you're welcome. She didn't think it would be right if she did.

Alex's smile didn't diminish and as she looked past Natalie and towards the car, she could see Dean and Sam looking at them. "I think the boys are waiting for you. You guys have a long drive ahead of you."

Natalie nodded and quickly wiped at her eyes. "Yeah, we do." She said looked up at Alex.

"Take care of yourself Natalie."

The genuine care in Alex's voice was astonishing to Natalie. It was something that Natalie could help, but, admire about her. No doubt, inside, Alex was probably a storm of rage, grief, sadness and yet, right now, she was doing whatever she could to make their farewell light. Natalie gave her all the credit.

"You too, Alex."

Alex gave Natalie a single nod as she turned and walked up the pathway towards the building. Natalie remained in place, watching, silently, as Alex ascended the building steps and finally disappeared into her apartment. Natalie could feel an immense weight lift off of her and she bent over slightly, her arm pressing against her ribs as she took in a breath.

"Nad?" Sam had rolled down the window when he saw Natalie's body slumping in it's posture. "You okay?"

Natalie slowly turned around and began to walk back towards the car. "Yeah. Let's just go." She opened the car door and, gingerly, slid into the back seat. Once the door was closed, Natalie immediately laid down on the seat. "Are you going for a straight shot for Montana?"

Dean put the car into drive and took off down the road. "Probably not. We don't need you staying cooped up in a car for too long. We'll stop at a motel and let you rest."

"Okay, well..." Natalie groaned as she shifted her body in the seat. "Wake me up when we stop."

Natalie closed her eyes and could feel that she was starting to fall asleep fairly quickly. The sudden weight of something soft was placed on top of her and she quickly opened her eyes. Sam was gently placing his over her. Realizing that she was looking at her, Sam only gave a small smile, which Natalie replied with her own. Pulling her arm out from under the jacket, she took a hold of Sam's hand as he was pulling his arm back. Their hands remained entwined, small assuring squeeze came from both ends and they both remained in that position. That is, until, Natalie quickly fell asleep, to which, Sam gently placed her arm back over her chest.

Sam remained in his position though, slightly turned in his seat and his eyes were still on Natalie, even when she slipped into sleep mode. "You think she'll be okay?"

Dean gave Sam a quick look as he turned out of the neighborhood. "Who? Alex or Nad?"

"Both."

Dean's hand tightening around the wheel, even he wasn't too sure what to answer. "I'm not sure. But, hopefully, they'll both get through it."

Sam finally turned fully around in his seat, facing the front. "I hope so too."

* * *

One Week Later

Natalie's eyes slowly opened at the sound of a door opening and closing. Her eyes scanned around her room until they landed on the door, which slightly opened. She could see a shadow from the bottom of the door that was being created by the light Bobby most likely left on. Pulling the covers away from her body, wincing at her still tender ribs, she tiptoed over to the door and quietly pulled it open.

Standing near the front door, Caden was finishing up with buttoning his coat. _Where is he off to? _Natalie pulled the door open and slipped out. Standing behind him, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Where are you going?"

Caden froze, his fingers still holding one of the coat buttons as he slowly turned around. "Just...need to do a few things."

"Really?" Natalie raised a brow. "Because I know you can't afford to be sneaking off, especially, with someone in your situation."

Caden lowered his arms until they rested at his side.

"So, where are you going?" Natalie questioned.

"I have a location set up for myself and I was going to go there."

Natalie felt her face loosen and the scowl in her expression released. "Oh. Then you don't have to be sneaking off like this."

Caden's lips cinched slightly to the side. "I know."

Natalie's brows furrowed slightly. "How about you take me to this place?"

"What?"

"Yeah." Natalie shrugged. "Let me see it. That way I know where you'll be staying most of the time. And I could try and remember the location, incase I need to find you."

Caden was hesitant, it was a strange thing to read true emotion on his face. With Castiel, Natalie had already met him during his emotional experience while down here on Earth. But, with Caden, she was starting to see small cracks decorating this angelic armor. It was amusing to see him either surprised or confused. And it was something that she found herself getting used to, fairly easily.

"I suppose it's now or never." Caden walked forward to Natalie and reached up to touch her forehead.

Pulling his hand away, Natalie was finally able to take in her surroundings. They were standing in the middle of a room, obviously. It was barely lit and it looked completely trashed. In the sense of, this place hadn't been lived in for a while. Caden didn't have to tell her that it was an abandoned house.

"Nice." Natalie commented. "So, this is where you're going to be staying for much of the time."

"Yes." Caden followed his answer with a single stoic nod.

Natalie walked over to a worn down couch and her fingers ran over the fabric. "How did you find this place? Or, better question, why did you think this place would be a keen choice?"

"He didn't choose it."

Natalie turned abruptly at the sound of a woman's voice and she saw her walk out from one of the adjacent rooms. Natalie took a moment to assess the young woman. Shoulder length brown hair, shoulders that were set up to present a high manner. If Natalie didn't know any better, she embodied an angel.

"And this is?" Natalie asked as she turned back to Caden.

Caden motioned over at her. "This is Sarah. She's the one who helped me escape heaven."

Natalie raised her brows. "Oh. Right." She turned to look at Sarah, who made her way to the center of the room, closer to them. "You're little break out buddy." Natalie finished with a small smile, but, it was only met with Sarah's stern stare.

"Well, uh, it's nice to meet you." Natalie slowly stuck her hand out toward the angel. And it seemed a little odd to her. She never shook hands with Caden or Castiel upon first meeting them. So, this was a first for her.

Sarah stared at the hand that was hanging in mid-air, contemplating on whether to just deny the greeting. Instead, she raised her hand and took a hold of Natalie's. As she did so, Sarah tugged Natalie's towards her and pressed her other hand against her ribs.

Natalie, at first, was about to pull back, but, the sudden warmth that spread throughout her chest and torso stopped her from doing so. The irritating soreness that she had been experience for the past week, slowly melted away. When Sarah finally pulled away, Natalie couldn't help, but, run her hand across her ribs.

"Thanks." Natalie finally said.

"Caden was the one who asked me to do it." Sarah said, disregarding the gratitude Natalie showed.

And it was something that Natalie could notice almost too easily. Judging by the way Sarah was looking at her and her whole attitude, she didn't seem to be a big fan of Natalie. Of course, Natalie couldn't really think of a real reason. But, she was an angel and angels usually tended to not like her or Sam and Dean. "So, is this place going to do the job? I mean, will he actually be okay staying here?" Natalie asked Sarah, since she was the one who picked it out.

Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and allowed her eyes to roam around the room. "It should give us some time. But, I don't know how long it would last."

Now, Natalie was confused. "Wait, why is that? Isn't this place warded from angels? Doesn't that mean they won't be able to find you?"

Caden gave a small shrug. "That all depends. Sarah is still able to return to heaven. None of the angels know that she was the one who helped break me out. If they find out, they are bound to find where I am."

"And what happens if they do find you?" Natalie asked, almost afraid to here the answer.

"Most likely they will take me back and lock me away again. If not, then...it will be worse."

The mentioning of heaven only seemed to spark something in Natalie. With Castiel being gone, what exactly was going on up there? "What is the whole situation in Heaven right now? I mean, with Cas not being there, I bet there is a whole lot of confusion going on."

"It's no better than before." Sarah spoke up. "There are a few angels who are trying to win the prize of leading Heaven."

That was something that Natalie was not hoping to hear. "Does that mean another civil war?" Honestly, the last thing that needed to happen was another civil war turning angels crazy.

"Most likely." Sarah's answer was truthful, she wasn't going to soften the truth, no matter what kind of reaction it might bring.

Natalie nodded and sat down on the arm of the couch. "Who are the angels that are trying to gain this leadership?"

"There's Daniel. He's the one who has been gaining a lot more steam. He's one of the most well known angels and has the bigger influence. And then you have...Naomi. And then Yael."

"Are any of them worthy of taking the job?"

Sarah's eyes narrowed faintly. "No one is worthy, aside, from God."

This only made Natalie rolled her eyes. "Well, God hasn't been home in a while. So, just tell who you think would be best."

"I don't know."

"Okay." Natalie switched her gazes between Sarah and Caden. "Then who's side are you two on?"

Caden shook his head. "None. At the moment."

"If anything, Caden needs to stay away from all that's going on in Heaven. No doubt, Daniel would be the one to send out angels looking for him."

"Why?" Natalie asked.

"Daniel has been spreading word that Caden was in on Castiel's plan to open Purgatory. And that the slaughtering Castiel unleashed in Heaven is Caden's fault as well."

Natalie was rendered speechless at this. The way that Sarah described it sounded like how it goes in politics. There's always someone saying something damaging about another person and it becomes a vicious cyclone. "But, he didn't know. That's a lie."

"Right now, the other angels are desperate and confused. They are looking for someone to lead them on the right path and...that means believing anything they hear. Especially, if it is coming from someone like Daniel."

"I don't believe this. Is there anything that we can do to help?"

"No." Caden was quick to let down Natalie's offer. "If anything, I want you to stay out of this. You've already had enough trouble with the angels. You don't need anymore...now that the Leviathan's are out."

"Yeah."

Caden looked over at Sarah and gave her a nod. "Let Sarah take you back. Don't want Sam or Dean waking up to you being gone."

Natalie silently looked over at Caden and opened her mouth to say something, when Sarah placed her hand on Natalie's shoulder and she was back in the front yard of the cabin. Natalie looked over at the house and then to Sarah, who was standing behind her.

Sarah then began to guide Natalie over to the porch steps and they both took them one at a time. "You will make sure that he's okay, right?" Natalie asked.

"Caden is my brother. Of course I will." Sarah answered as they both stopped and turned to each other.

"I've just seen angels betray each other and I don't want that happening to him. In fact, I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

At this, Sarah merely nodded and she seemed totally unfazed by Natalie's genuine care for the angel. "You really care for him."

"He's my friend. He's saved my life several times and helped us when we needed it. I think he's proven himself to gain my trust."

Sarah could see some redeeming qualities in Natalie. Actually, she began to understand why Caden trusted her to so much. They both were the same in the loyalty aspect. And from what she heard about the Winchester's, it was the same thing. _Maybe they are the right choices. _But, for Caden's sake, Sarah hopes that all of this doesn't detonate before the right time. "Goodbye Natalie."

Sarah's departure was quick and it left Natalie standing on the porch alone. "Great." Natalie said to herself. "Another angel to join our group.

* * *

Natalie flipped through the various newspaper clippings that Dean had printed out and switched her gaze back and forth from the computer screen to the articles. They were currently in Ohio, after finding a potential case that involved an asylum. A few strange deaths that happened over the span of ten years caught a lot of people's attention. And just recently, about a few weeks ago, there was another one. That was right up their alley. Plus, Natalie was glad that they managed to find a job. It was something that could keep her occupied.

Especially after her little conversation with Caden and Sarah, Natalie was consistently worried about him. This angel Daniel sounded he could be a real problem, that is if he does actually find Caden and that is all depending on whether he finds out that Sarah helped him get out. Also, Natalie has yet to tell Dean and Sam about what she had found out. But, this job came up all of a sudden and Natalie decided to pull off telling them until they got done.

Sam and Dean went out to get some information on the deaths and to talk with a young woman, who was with the woman who died recently. Natalie chose to stay behind and to figure out what else she could dig up about this asylum. As she read through the articles online, she was jotting down quick notes on one of the printed out articles.

The door to the motel room opened and Natalie gazed up momentarily, seeing Sam and Dean walk in. "That took you guys a little longer than expected." Natalie looked back down at the paper as she finished up the sentence.

"Well, Sam and I went to the asylum."

Natalie looked up and gave Dean a look. "Without me."

"We just wanted to see if we could gather anything from there."

"And did you?"

"Well, we got an EMF spike, but, tell us what you found first." Sam and Dean both walked over and sat down at the table with Natalie.

"Okay, well, the asylum opened in 1905 and it was one of the best places to send people who were mentally disturbed. Well, at least, that's what people thought."

"What's the catch?" Sam asked.

"The asylum was closed in 1966 and apparently, the asylum had many lawsuits placed against them. It was reported that the patients were being abused and not getting proper treatment."

"We're there any deaths at the asylum." Dean asked.

Natalie raised her brows in questioning. "You mean amongst the patients?"

Dean gave a slight eye roll and nodded his head. "Well, any deaths that might not pertain to the patients."

"Uh, well, there have been a group of nurses that were found dead at the asylum. And it's always females...no males. And then one thing that caught my attention was the disappearance of a nurse that worked at the asylum from 59' to 61'. Apparently, it was reported at the time, that she had been doing her rounds and went into the lower section of the hospital and she was never seen. They never found her."

Dean hummed to himself. "What was her name?"

Natalie turned back to the computer and scrolled down the page a few times. "Her name was Mary Winston."

"And they never found her."

"They didn't find a body. No one really heard from her again. Although, one of the doctors kind of, supported the claim that she left her job and skipped town."

Sam furrowed his brows. "Why would she do that?"

"I have no idea. But, the explanation was given much thought and after a while, people didn't seem to question it. But, the case remained open and unsolved."

"Who was the doctor?"

"Dr. James Peterson. And, unfortunately and perhaps, ironically, he was killed just a few years after the incident."

Both brothers raised their brows at this.

"Yeah, he was killed by one of his patients. Apparently the person, went off and stabbed him to death. Though, it was probably a very just act since Dr. Peterson is allegedly one of the faculty members that was exposed of being abusive to his patients."

"That explains a lot actually."

Natalie closed the laptop and placed the papers on top of it. "Okay, now it's your turn. What did you find out?"

"Everything you said is right." Dean confirmed. "We went to the police and gained the location of this young woman who was at the asylum when this recent murder took place. She said that she saw a woman and she identified it as Mary Winston. Everyone in this town knows about her."

"Okay, so, Mary is haunting the asylum. But, why would she be the one killing these people?"

Sam shrugged. "If her spirit has been here for over fifty years, that's enough time for her to go vengeful. She probably wants justice for whatever happened to her."

Natalie nodded at Sam, but, pursed her lips into a thin line. "But, I wanna know what happened to her. Clearly, she didn't skip town, someone killed her. And for some reason, I'm betting that it was Dr. Peterson."

"What would make you say that?" Dean asked. "I mean, maybe, it was one of the patients that got loose and went on a rampage maybe."

"I don't know. What would a patient be doing in the lower levels of the hospital? I'm not talking about the main floor. This asylum has an entire tunnel system that runs beneath it. Back when it was originally built, this asylum had different buildings that were connected by this secret tunnel. They were eventually torn during in late 69', but, the tunnel is still there. No one, except the faculty, had access to it."

Dean went quiet as he took in the information. "Okay, let's say that you're right and Dr. Peterson did kill her, what was his motive? I mean this man was a freaking doctor."

"I think there is one person who can tell us."

"Who?"

"Her name is Lauren Gibson and she used to work as an assistant at the hospital. She is the only living faculty member of that asylum."

"Okay. How about you go check on Lauren? Sam and I will get ready."

* * *

Natalie walked into the public library where she learned Lauren was currently working. She couldn't help but think that it was a little amusing. She went from an assistant in a asylum to working at a library. Of course, if Natalie had worked at that asylum when it was in operation, she probably wouldn't have wanted to work in any kind of hospital after that.

Standing near the front entrance, Natalie slowly looked around the location, seeing small groups of people that were occupying various sections of the building. Natalie finally saw a few women working at the main desk and she recognized one of them as being Lauren.

Walking over to the desk, Natalie made sure to have her badge ready. "Excuse me, Mrs. Gibson?"

An elderly woman looked up at her, a smile brightened her features. "Yes, dear."

Natalie held up her badge and offered a thin smile. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your time at the asylum."

Lauren's smile immediately fell and that cheery mood she greeted Natalie with, was gone. And Natalie was able to spot it too easily. "I am not sure." Lauren slowly shook her head.

But, Natalie needed to get information on Mary and Lauren was the only person you might have something useful. "I promise it won't take long." Natalie quickly assured.

Lauren continued to grow hesitant and she looked back at her other co-workers, who were all sporting genuine concerned looks for her. Finally, she nodded her head and guided Natalie over to a section of the library where they could talk in private. "What is it that you would like to know?"

Natalie took a seat across from her and placed her badge back into her pocket. "I was wondering if you could tell me what you know about the disappearance of Mary Winston."

"Why? What does that have to do with what happened recently?"

Natalie faltered in her words, trying to find a convincing explanation. "My partners and I just want to try and clear a few things up. And it all starts with her disappearance." Lauren nodded for her to continue. "If I am correct, you worked at the asylum for a few years."

"More than a few years." She gently corrected. "I started working there when I was twenty one, as an assistant. And, I won't lie to you, it wasn't exactly the best place to be working at."

"Why is that?"

"Well, the patients there were not exactly...taken care of by the doctors. Simple procedures were done horrendously, they weren't socialized properly with other patients. It was hell from what I remember."

"I'm sorry to hear about that. And Mary was a nurse there."

"One of the best. She was one of most kindest individuals I have ever met. Especially in that place. She always wanted to help others, especially, those who were mentally disturbed. People who were like that, back then, were often sent away by their families to live in asylums or hospitals. Mary was the kind of nurse who tried to make every patient feel at home."

_Okay, so she was a really nice person. _Natalie smiled and nodded. "What was her affiliation with Dr. Peterson?"

Lauren's mood visibly changed at the mention of his name. "Well, they worked closely together. They weren't lovers or anything, they just always had the same rounds."

"I read somewhere that it was said that Dr. Peterson wasn't exactly a good doctor."

"You mean the accusations of him not treating the patients well."

Natalie nodded.

Lauren sighed sadly. "Yes, that's true. I never personally witnessed it. But, I am fairly certain that Mary did at one point. I don't know when, but, it couldn't have been long. She wouldn't have tolerated that."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"The day she disappeared. I was working at the front desk and she came over to me, said that she was gonna head down to the tunnels. Nurses usually had to go down there for more supplies or to find the doctors. And that was the last time I saw her. When the police came, I told them that she had gone down to the tunnels and they went down there...they didn't find her. Nothing. No trace. After a while, the investigation went cold and they stopped. They had no idea where she was."

"And what did you do after her disappearance?"

Lauren ran a hand down her face and blew out a breath. "I stayed at the asylum for about a year or so. Things at the place started to get worse. The treatments were becoming more harsh. But, I had this experience."

"And what was it?" Natalie saw Lauren immediately shake her head and Natalie couldn't afford to let this information slide. "You can tell me."

"You're going to think I'm crazy. I've never told this to anyone."

"I'm not going to ridicule you. Believe me, I've had some crazy things happen to me in the past."

Natalie's reassurance seemed to do the trick, since Lauren nodded. "I saw her. One day, when I went down into the tunnels. She was there, just...she was so real. But, I could see bruising around her neck and while I was looking at her, I saw it."

Natalie tilted her head to the side. "Saw what?"

"I don't know whether you want to call it a vision or what, but, I saw what happened to her. It was in quick successions. But, Dr. Peterson killed her, because, she threatened to expose what he was doing and all of the malpractice. And he wasn't having that. So...he killed her."

Natalie leaned back in her chair and huffed out in realization. "Killed her so that she could keep quiet. Did you happen to see what he did with her body?"

"He put her through the crematorium. Patients were passing away frequently at that time and the bodies would be taken down to be burned. No one would've thought anything of it."

"And you never told anyone about this. No one?"

"I would've sounded like a crazy person." Lauren let out a painful laugh. "After I saw that, I snuck into Dr. Peterson's office and I found a pendant that Mary wore all the time, in his desk. I didn't take it and I didn't say anything. I, honestly, didn't know what to do. I thought that if I said anything...something would happen to me. Then after he died, I just kept my mouth shut. I thought there was no point in saying anything. But, I wished I had."

"Well, you can't keep second guessing it. You did what you thought was the best choice, especially, in your circumstances."

"I don't always feel that way." Lauren stood up from her chair without warning and offered Natalie an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but, I need to get back to work."

"Of course." Natalie followed in suit and rose to her feet. "Thank you for your time."

"Thank you for listening."

"Oh, Ms. Lauren?" Natalie quickly said, before Lauren left. "I was wondering, could you tell me what happened with Dr. Peterson's body? After he was killed."

"His body was cremated, which is what he had stated in his will. No family members were there to witness it."

Natalie nodded."Thank you."

Natalie watched Lauren return to the front desk and then turned around, pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed out Sam's number. After a few rings, she heard the click and then Sam's voice.

_"Nad, you're on." _

"Hey, so I just finished talking with Ms. Gibson and apparently, Dr. Peterson was the one that killed Mary."

_"Then I guess I owe you a round at the bar, Nad."_ Dean's voice cut through. _"What was the reasoning?" _

"Apparently, Mary knew about how he treated his patients and she was going to report him and the entire hospital for malpractice. When she confronted him, he killed her in order to keep her quiet. And then, he sent her body into the hospital crematorium."

_"What the hell? How did this woman know all of this?" _

"Uh, she said that she had some kind of...vision or I don't how to explain it, but, she was able to see what happened and I don't think she was lying."

_"Okay, so, Mary is still tied to the hospital in some way." _

"It has to do with a pendant. Lauren said that she found it in his office when she went snooping around. I guess he kept it as a souvenir."

_"This guy sounds really twisted. So, we find the pendant and then we burn it." _

Natalie bit down on her lip and went quiet. There was something about this that seemed to cut and dry. "I just..."

_"What Nad?" _

"I just don't think Mary is the one causing these deaths. From what I gathered from Lauren, she was someone who could never harm anyone."

_"Nad, she's been trapped in that place for the past fifty plus years, by now, her spirit should have gone vengeful. " _Dean reminded.

"I know, it's the case with almost all of the ghosts that we've encountered. I just feel like this time it's different."

_"Okay, then if Mary isn't causing the death's, who is?" _

"I don't know. I want to say Dr. Peterson, but, his body was cremated and I don't know whether he has anything at that asylum that was worth sticking too."

_"Okay, well, Sam and I just got done with packing what we need. We'll be there in a few minutes then we'll head out to the asylum." _

"Okay. See you soon."

* * *

Natalie walked up to the dilapidated building that was being overgrown with weeds and vines. The windows had all been boarded up from the inside and the finishing on the outer walls were beyond chipped and weathered. Just from the outer appearance, if this building could talk, Natalie only imagined what it had to say. But, the sun has disappeared and they needed to get this done.

"Nad. We got the doors open." Dean called out.

Natalie made her way over to the main doors and waited, allowing Sam and Dean to slip into the building through a decent sized opening. Once Dean was in, he held the door open and motioned for Natalie to come through, which she did.

The three hunters remained near the door as they looked ahead, not able to see anything. This whole place was the perfect example of someplace where light never touches. They pulled out their flashlights, switched them on and then proceeded to walk down the short hallway.

"This place is beyond dark. It's like no light has shined through those windows for years." Dean quietly commented, his voice bounced off the bear, worn down walls.

They made it out of the front hallway and found themselves standing in, what looked like, the front desk. There were hallways on each ends of the front area that led to where the patients stayed. Natalie looked down to her right, her light flashing down the dark hallway, hitting abandoned wheelchairs and random medical tables.

Turning back to the front desk, Natalie sauntered over to the area and found piles upon piles of papers. They were stacked every and some were even scattered on the entire floor. Reaching for one of the folders and upon opening it, she found it to be a record of patients. She scanned over the information, names of the patients, their age and their medical diagnosis.

"These are all patient records." She finally said. "It literally looks like they just left, without even taking anything."

"I'm surprised that they haven't torn this place down. I mean, if I had the choice, I probably would."

"I think they decided to keep it up for historical purposes." Natalie shrugged and then gave a disdained scoff at the end. "Like that has done any good for them."

"Alright, well, where should we try and look first?"

"Well, I read that the tunnel system got blocked off and that the entryways were boarded up. We're gonna have to find some alternate routes."

"Let's try up on the second floor, see if there might been an elevator shaft we might be able to climb down."

The three hunters tore themselves away from the front desk and walked up the main staircase, their shoes scraped against the leaves and abandoned papers that littered the floor. Their flashlights shined on dirtied white walls and casted shadows when their lights came across various objects. There was only one word that was swirling around Natalie's mind, _creepy. _Of course, she's been to places that are, probably, a lot more worse. But, there was always something about abandoned hospitals that always freaked her out, even when she was a little kid.

Reaching the top of the steps, they found themselves standing in the middle of a massive hallway. One that seemed to stretch on and on in both directions. They looked down the left and then the right, trying to figure out which way they should take first.

"Maybe we should split up." Natalie offered as she already began to walk down the right end of the hallway.

Dean quickly took a hold of her arm. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"We can't waste any time. We split up, we'll be able to cover more ground. You two go that way and I'll head down this way. Shout out if you find anything." Natalie's tone made it final, which Dean and Sam both, reluctantly, agreed.

A single assuring nod was all the boys received from Natalie before she turned away from them and began to walk down the hall. _It's so damn dark. _Natalie pursed her lips together at the thought and her eyes took a quick survey of the empty darkness around her. There was something so eerie about this place. Not one single light source from outside could stream in through those windows. They were so tightly boarded up, nothing could get through.

And the place was so quiet. Aside from the scraping of their shoes against the ground, everything around them was so mute. The slightest noise sounded so loud because of the echo it created in these empty hallways. But, Natalie couldn't help but think about all of the teenagers who snuck in here. Why in the world would they do that? This place is creepy enough as it is, but, of course, teenagers do stupid things. Unfortunately, in this case, it got most of them killed.

That only made Natalie think back on what she had learned from Lauren. Mary was a capable nurse here at the asylum, who probably was the only decent faculty member at this facility. Yes, she was murdered and it remained unsolved for half a century, but, still, putting the blame on Mary for all these killings, it didn't sit right with Natalie. Although it was about ninety percent that it was Mary, Natalie couldn't push away this gut instinct that maybe they had this all wrong.

From the other end of the hallway, Natalie could hear the soft muffled voices of Sam and Dean and it helped to bring her out of her mental deduction and questioning. Every single door led to rooms that were either empty or filled with old medical equipment. Patients living in these rooms and knowing the malpractice that went on here, sent a deep chill down Natalie's spine. The idea of what this place looked and sounded like while it was still running was a disturbing thought for her.

Natalie's adrenaline shot up when she heard a noise coming from the end of her side of the hallway. She turned her body straight, the flashlight blaring down the dark hallway. Taking careful steps, Natalie slowly raised her shotgun in front of her, taking a loose aim while keeping her light steady.

Moving her light into the rooms on her sight side, Natalie was only met with more empty rooms. Stepping halfway into each room, only served to her that there was nothing there. But, the noise happened against, further down the hallway, causing Natalie's head to snap towards that direction. Moving her aim and light straight again, she took bigger steps towards the source, occasionally turning to peer through the various open doors.

More than halfway down the hallway, Natalie stopped when she came a room-room 425 to be exact. Staring in, there was something that was appealing to her. It was like she had to go in there. Tightening her grip around her gun, Natalie blew out a quiet breath as she slowly walked into the room. She could have easily called for Sam and Dean over, but, that thought didn't even occur to her.

The first thing she noticed was that this room was bigger than any of the other patient rooms. One wall was almost entirely covered in windows and there was an empty bed spring in the corner, with the mattress next to it on the ground. Walking over to one of the windows, Natalie raised her arm up and wiped away the dirt with the sleeve of her coat. She was immediately greeted with the view of the town in the distance. The multiple sources of light created a huge cluster of brightness.

Natalie breathed out and her eyes instantly focused on the fact that her breaths were collecting in clouds of smoke in front of her eyes. She slowly stepped away from the window, letting out more breaths, which only kept condensing. Lifting her flashlight up, Natalie turned around and let out a sharp gasp at what she saw. A woman was standing in front of her, eyes darkened and neck covered in deep bruises. She recognized her as being Mary.

Natalie raised her gun in an aim and stepped backwards when the floor gave out beneath her feet. Natalie could feel her body fall through a giant hole as her finger pressed against the trigger, sending off a loud blast, before the weapon fell out of her hand. Natalie was falling in complete darkness, aside from the beam of light that was moving around viciously. A tight grip secured around her ankle and suddenly, she was done falling. Natalie felt her body stop in mid-air and she quickly looked around her, seeing nothing except her flashlight lying on the ground...above her?

It had to take Natalie a few seconds to reorient herself to realize that she was hanging by her feet. She was upside down and her arms hung loosely above her head. For just a few moments, Natalie remained still, her body swinging back and forth from the rope that was wrapped around her ankle. She tried to get her eyes to focus in this pitch darkness, but, it was no use. Natalie was hanging by her leg, in the dark and she has no idea where exactly she is.

Natalie, however, could start to feel something unfamiliar starting to creep into her mind. It was this overwhelming sense of panic and fear. She went quiet, to see if she could hear anything-there was nothing. Trapped in this endless darkness with no noise, it made Natalie feel like she was suffocating and her mind was starting to go wild. She had this sneaking sensation that something was standing right near her...watching her. That in turn, made Natalie look wildly around her, despite the fact, that she couldn't see a damn thing.

Her breathing was starting to quicken and the panic that she heard from it, made her fear escalate. _Just stay calm. _Natalie looked up at where her leg was being held and all she saw was more darkness. Letting her head hang back down, Natalie reached her arm up and searched her back pockets for her knife. Finding the object, she pulled it out and flipped it open. Gaining up as much strength as she could, Natalie leaned her torso up and quickly grabbed onto the rope, close to her foot. She brought the blade up and took several attempts until it was against the rope. Natalie wasted no time and began to cut the rope.

The sound of the blade cutting through the rope was made louder than it should be. With her back and arms starting to ache from trying to keep herself up, Natalie moved the blade faster and a snapping sound followed.

Natalie felt her body fall and her back made a painful impact against the ground. A small groaned slipped past her lips as she rolled to her side. Blowing a breath, Natalie could feel dust blow up in her face and she quickly reached for her flashlight. Resting on her knees, Natalie raised up the flashlight and the first thing she saw was an open door that led out into a hallway. She took a quick moment to look at the room she was in and saw that it was huge, a lot bigger than the room she was just in, before, falling through the floor.

Raising to her feet, Natalie searched the floor of the room to see if her shotgun had fallen down with her-it didn't. Most likely, it was still in the room above her. But, now, she had nothing. Only her knife was there to defend her and yet, what was that gonna do?

"Okay." Natalie breathed out and turned back towards the open door she had seen just a minute ago. Aiming her flashlight up, Natalie steadied herself as she walked over to the threshold.

Halfway out the door, Natalie moved her light towards the right and saw a long corridor and then looked to the left, only to see the same thing. As she stepped fully out from the room, it dawned on her, then, where she was.

"It's the tunnel."

Natalie couldn't help but feel some form of accomplishment. Their goal was to try and find a way down into this tunnel. Even though her route wasn't exactly what she had in mind, it got her down here.

"Okay. So. He had her pendant...in his office." Natalie looked down the right and then the left again, debating which way Dr. Peterson's office would be. In a quick manner, Natalie pulled her phone out from her pocket and went to try to call one of the boys, only to find that her connection was lost.

"Great." Natalie slid her phone back into her pocket and then turned left, thinking that she would start off going that direction.

The tunnel was probably the worst part of the building, feature wise. There were empty gurneys and oxygen tanks, lined up against walls and scattered all across the tunnel. The silence down here was a lot more disturbing than what they got up on the high levels. Natalie immediately remembered back on what Lauren had told her, about bodies being taken down this tunnel to the crematorium, daily. Natalie swore that she was having brief flashes of what that would've been like. Nurses wheeling gurneys down this tunnel with dead bodies lying on them, taking the bodies to their last destination.

Natalie slowly shook her head, to rid the images from her mind and forced herself to focus on the task in front of her. She still needed to locate Dr. Peterson's office and with the number of rooms she's already passed, Natalie was starting to doubt that it was down this side. Finally, towards the end of the hallway, Natalie came upon a room that looked like it could pass off as an office. There was a very dirty desk and a few shelves that were now housing worn down books and nearly destroyed folders and papers.

Walking in, towards the left side of the room, there was a gigantic hole in the wall that led into another room, but, Natalie was quick to disregard it. Her eyes were on the desk and that's where she bolted to. Opening the drawers, Natalie shuffled out folders and papers, keeping the image of Mary's pendant fresh in her mind. Drawer after drawer, Natalie threw out all of the contents, sifting through objects so old that she couldn't even tell what they were anymore.

On the last drawer on the right side of the desk, seemed to be the jackpot for Natalie. The only thing in there was a single leather bound journal. Natalie creased her brows as she reached down and pulled it out. Placing it down on the desk, she gently wiped away the dust and saw Dr. Peterson's name imprinted on the front cover.

Pulling off the strap, Natalie opened up the journal and skimmed through the pages and her mouth fell open. There were entries by Peterson, writing down various accounts of what he has done in this asylum. Not to the patients, but, to the various nurses that worked here. Natalie only had to count five to know that they definitely got their choice wrong in who was responsible for these deaths. And towards the middle of the journal, it was Mary's pendant, nestled between the pages.

"It's Dr. Peterson."

Natalie let out a huff when her body froze at seeing it condense in the air. Slowly looking up, Natalie could see a figure step out from the hole. A dirtied white lab coat that was covered in a decent sized blood stain. Natalie was frozen in plain fear, her eyes slowly sauntered over to the door, which was barely being illuminated by her light, which was still on Dr. Peterson.

Finally, she looked back over at him and gave a small smirk. "Is this yours? Is this why you're still attached to this place? You like killing women huh? Well aren't just a sick bastard."

A deep, devilish smirk appeared on his face.

_"Nad!" _

Natalie's head snapped up at the sound of Sam calling her name. Finally, they managed to find where she had fallen through, but, there was no way she was going to have them come down here. Her eyes moved back over to Peterson, who had also heard the call, but, his smirk only grew.

"Fine. You want this?" She asked, gesturing at the journal on the desk. "Then come and get it."

Natalie picked up the journal and dashed out of the room. She kept her light pointed straight ahead. Her heels pounded endlessly against the concrete floor and her chest heaved with heavy breaths that slid out her throat. The image of Mary standing in front of her, made Natalie come to a quick halt. Turning around Natalie began to run back where she had come from. That was probably a stupid idea, but, she didn't have her gun and she had no way of defending herself.

However, Peterson was come at Natalie from that end and she came a complete stop. _Shit. Are they working together? _Natalie backed up, knowing that she was heading back towards Mary's direction.

"Go." A garbled voice appeared behind Natalie and a hand grabbed her by the shoulder, flinging her backwards.

Natalie landed on her back and slid across the floor a few feet before coming to a stop. But, she didn't stay down for long. She was told to go and that's what she's going to do. Natalie quickly pushed herself back up to her feet and took off running. Sam and Dean's calls were becoming clearer and when she knew that she was getting close, she decided to try and call back.

"I'm here!" Natalie called out as she turned into the room where she had been hanging from her leg. Looking up through the hole she had fallen through, she could see Dean and Sam peering down, their flashlights nearly blinding her.

_"Nad. You alright?" _

"Just hold on."

Natalie placed the journal into her coat pocket and took a quick check to make sure she had everything. Looking back up, she could see that the rope was now in Dean's hands and she placed the flashlight in her mouth. Jumping up, Natalie grabbed the rope with both of her hands and pulled herself up until she was about halfway up the rope.

"Pull!" Natalie called out, except it sounded more like a loud groan than a word.

Regardless, Sam and Dean both began to pull the rope, at a fast rate, which Natalie was slightly surprised at. But, she was glad for it. She didn't want to stay in that hole any longer. Once she was close enough to the opening, Natalie pressed her hands against the ground, surrounding the opening and began to push herself out. Sam quickly grabbed a hold of her arm and helped her all the way out.

Natalie leaned against Sam, only enough to settle herself back on her feet. Once she did so, she pulled the flashlight out of her mouth and let out a few heavy breaths.

"What the hell happened?" Dean quickly asked.

"I, uh, I came in here because I heard something and, uh...Mary was here and I just...fell through that thing." Natalie pointed her flashlight at the opening. "The floor literally just gave out beneath me and I fell and my ankle got caught in that rope."

"Where were you though?" Sam asked, his hand was placed on her shoulder.

"I was in the tunnels and I cut myself loose and...Mary is not the one who was responsible for all the deaths here."

Sam and Dean both raised their flashlights at the same time, the light blared in Natalie's eyes and she squinted. "Who is it then?" Dean questioned.

"It's Dr. Peterson. I found his office down there and...I found this in his desk." She pulled out the journal from her jacket pocket. "This is what he's attached too. I found Mary's pendant in here and she wasn't his only victim. He wrote down all the times he had killed nurses here."

"Well then this guy is more psychotic than we originally were lead to believe." Dean commented.

"Yeah. But, we gotta burn this thing."

Dean began to lead the way out of room. "I saw a small trash can we could use to burn the thing." Sam and Natalie both followed in suit, their lights bouncing everywhere as they walked down the hallway back towards the main area.

"You sure you're okay?" Sam asked again, since last time he didn't really get a direct answer from her.

"Yeah." Natalie nodded, though it was probably too dark for Sam to notice it. "Just a little jumpy that's all."

Dean searched around the desk until he was able to locate an old waste basket. "This will do." He walked around to the front of the desk and placed it down.

Natalie walked over and went to place the journal into the basket, when a sudden force threw her back and her body made contact with the wall. Slumping to the floor, Natalie laid against her stomach as she heard Sam and Dean were getting thrown around. Grabbing her flashlight, which was lying a few feet away from her, Natalie shined it over and saw Peterson making his way over to her.

Natalie began to scoot her body away from him and her free arm began to reach for the journal, except-where was it? Natalie looked around and couldn't find the damn thing anywhere. _It must've slipped out of my hand. But, where? _She turned her attention back over to Peterson who quickly reached down and grabbed her by the jacket collar.

Slamming her up against the wall, his hands moved down and encircled around her neck, tightening in a vice grip. Natalie felt her throat constrict, her airway growing smaller and the air moving through was almost cut off entirely. She dropped her flashlight, hearing it crash against the ground as she moved her arms against his chest, to push him off.

A sharp blast resonated off the walls and Peterson suddenly disappeared and Natalie gasped in a breath, her hand flying up to her neck. Looking over, she saw Sam lowering the shotgun and she nodded in her thanks. But, she quickly went to finding the journal. That shot was only going to hold him off for a little bit. They had to find the journal and quickly burn it before he came back.

"I lost the journal. I fell out of my hand when he threw me." Natalie informed the brothers, who both immediately, began to search for the thing.

Natalie searched around the desk, thinking that it might have slid over there, but, she didn't find it anywhere near it. Natalie raised her flashlight to a corner section of the area and saw a huge crowd of wheelchairs stacked against each other. Running over, she searched frantically between the wheelchairs, moving a few out of the way. She finally spotted the journal sitting under one of the wheelchairs and she quickly picked it up.

"I got it!" She called out as she ran over to the wastebasket. Placing the journal into the basket, Dean quickly poured lighter fluid over it.

"Guys." Sam spoke up and they all saw Peterson walking towards them from a shorter hallway in front of them.

Natalie quickly took the lighter from Dean, flicked the lighter a few times before she finally got a flame. Looking up at Peterson, who was still advancing towards them, Natalie finally threw it into the wastebasket, which quickly erupted in flames.

Peterson stopped dead in his tracks, his face contorting into agony. His arms light up with a fiery glow that streamed like veins, which gradually made its way up his neck and soon his entire body burst into flames. Soon there was nothing but a faint dust that had dispersed in the air.

Natalie's hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the pendant. Holding it in her palm, Natalie couldn't help, but, think about what happened down there in the tunnel. Mary had helped her. _Thank you. _Natalie silently conveyed her thanks before tossing the pendant into the fire. If anything, at least now she could be at rest.

"Well, then." Dean finally spoke, causing Sam and Natalie to look over at him. "I think it's official that this place can probably be taken down."

"But, they want to keep it up for historical purposes." Natalie lightly argued back, to which Dean merely rolled his eyes. Even though Natalie couldn't see the act, it wasn't too hard to know that it had happened.

"Let's get out of here. I heard that there's this little thing going on in one of the bars downtown. Why don't we go and blow off some steam?"

"Sounds good to be. But, first, we need to stop at the motel."

Dean turned on his light, right in Natalie's face. "Why?"

"Because I smell like this place and I wanna wash it off." Natalie pushed Dean's arm away, effectively getting the light out of her eyes. "You two probably should as well."

"I think Sam and I don't smell that much. I mean you were down there in the tunnels. I could only imagine what that must've been like." Dean retorted.

"God, don't remind me of that."

* * *

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**Review Responses:**

**Guest: **Your review seriously made my day! The word count on this story kind of blows me away every once in a while. I never usually write this much!

**Sarahmichellegellarfan1: **I hope that updates will start being quicker too! I seriously have no idea why I am having such a hard time with getting these chapters done. But, I do hope you liked this one!

**January Lily: **Don't worry about it! I totally understand! I know what you mean about those Satalie moments, every time I get a chance to write one I take full advantage of it. I can't get enough of them. Alex is my baby, I love her so much. And I do have a a few chapters where Alex and Nad go up against a few things and those will be really fun to write. And Caden is going to be needing lots of love, especially with what I'm going to do with him! And the sequel ideas won't stop! I just want to write it so badly!

**Marloweee1856: **You don't have to worry about it sweetie! I completely understand. But, I am so glad that you love Alex. She is my baby and I can't wait to write more of her. And of course, I can't wait for her and Dean to develop a real relationship. FORESHADOWING! I HAD TO PUT THAT IN! The twins can't get out of my head and I really just want to put them into this series, but, we shall have to see. Yes. Caden. The fact that you have so many questions makes me really happy. I will say this, to put your mind at ease, he is not planning anything to hurt Natalie or the Winchester's. In fact, in this story, he will begin to not want to go through with it, considering the direction that Naomi will want to take it. But, this whole thing with Caden and Sarah will be the huge story arc in season eight that involves Natalie. And Sarah was an angel that I didn't want you all to fall in love with right away. So, I'm glad that you're a little skeptical about her.


	7. Let's Play Counselors

_A/N: So here is the next chapter for you all! I think I should make it clear that I am not doing the whole Amy plotline, because, I personally didn't like it and I just don't feel like it would fit in my stories. Most of this story will be original chapters, with a few of the canon cases thrown in. So, I just wanted to clear that up._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

After dealing with the case at the asylum, Sam, Dean and Natalie stayed in town for a few days, mostly because of Dean's constant nagging. There was some kind of local celebration that was being held in the town and Dean had to nag Natalie and Sam enough to where they agreed to stay. All Dean could think of was free drinks. Of course he would. But, Natalie and Sam both stayed sober the first few days, only taking down a few drinks. It wasn't until the last day that Natalie decided to fully indulge herself, which probably wasn't the best idea.

The day after, Dean woke Natalie up, almost had to drag her out of bed so that they can finally get back on the road. Unluckily, Natalie was suffering was one of the worst hangovers she's ever had. Natalie merely popped in two painkillers, thinking that it would help in some way—it didn't. With her head pounding, she was dragged to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, when all she wanted to do was sleep. In the car or at the motel, it didn't matter. She was about half a second away from just letting her head fall against the table, but, that would only aggravate her headache.

When the waitress came to take their orders, she remained on Natalie for longer than she would've liked. That's because Natalie was trying so hard to remember the remedy for a hangover. The day after her twenty first birthday, Natalie had a terrible hangover from the celebration and her brother greeted her with coffee and waffles the next morning. He always promoted the concept that coffee and waffles are amazing at "soaking up the alcohol". Ever since then, that's what Natalie treated herself to after a night of drinking herself to death.

Once the order was taken, Natalie leaned her face against her hand and her eyes slowly closed from their heaviness. But, Dean had a clear view of Natalie's face and, even though her eyes were closed, she looked like she was going to be sick.

"Nad. You look like you're going to throw up." Dean commented.

"I feel like it too." Natalie's words jumbled under her breath. "I hate hangovers...I hate drinking."

"You were the one who thought it would be a good idea to go all out on the last day."

Natalie picked up a napkin in front of her, crumpled it and tossed it at Dean's face. "I don't need to be reminded."

Dean tossed the balled napkin to the other side of the table, giving Sam a look and he didn't even try to suppress that smile that appeared. "Maybe you'll learn from this."

Natalie slowly opened her eyes and her glare had a hysterical menace look to it and it only made Dean smile even more. "Don't laugh at me Dean...it's not funny."

"I'm getting a pretty good laugh from it."

"Whatever." Natalie grumbled as she rested her head against the table.

The waitress came back with their drinks and as the first glass was set down, Natalie immediately sat up from the sound. Hissing from her discomfort, Natalie pressed her hand against her forehead.

"You should be happy that your coffee is here now." Dean said, pushing it towards her.

"I swear...I'm going to stay off hard liquor for a while."

Dean took a drink from his glass and scoffed. "We'll see how long that lasts."

Natalie tiredly reached her hand towards the sugar packs, but, didn't make too much of an effort to get them. It wasn't until she looked at Sam, who was sitting next to her, and with a slight roll of the eyes, he handed her a few packs.

"Thank you." She tore open about three things of sugar and dumped them in her coffee. Sam's hand found its way to her back and he began to make soothing rubs, making her groan a few times.

"So, what was that thing you wanted to tell us about Caden?" Dean decided that he was going to break out the question. It was something that Natalie only briefly touched on while they were in town and now, they needed to get the full explanation.

"Come on, Dean. Can't you just wait until I'm somewhat over this hangover."

"You're talking, aren't you?"

Natalie only groaned at his question and took a quick drink from her coffee. "Fine. So, the night before we left for the job at the asylum, Caden took me to this abandoned house."

"Abandoned house? Why the hell would he take you there?" Sam's brows were furrowed deep as he watched Natalie stir her coffee.

"It's where he's going to be staying at. This other angel, Sarah, was the one who helped get him out of Heaven and, basically, Caden is hiding like some refugee. The place is only useful as long as the angels don't find out that Sarah was apart of his breakout."

"Okay, and what happens if the angels find out about it? I mean, if they are hell bent on finding him, they are going to eventually."

Dean nodded in his own hasty agreement with Sam's comment. "Angels are relentless dicks. And Caden killed a few of them. That's not going to go unpunished and to amount that with him breaking out of Heaven jail, things aren't looking to good for him."

"Yeah, Dean, thanks for the reminder, as if I'm not already worried about him." Natalie bit back, her voice still slurred from leftover alcohol her body was trying to push through her system. "That's not the only thing I'm worried about."

"Oh god." Dean leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. "What else could possibly go wrong with the angels?"

"Another civil war."

Both Sam and Dean stared at Natalie, eyes barely widened and mouths slightly apart. What else will be piled onto their list of things to deal with? First, it's this Leviathan infestation and now, another damn angel civil war?

"What do you mean...another angel war?" Dean asked again, his voice growing more stern towards the end.

The waitress interrupted the conversation by bringing over their food. The three of them sat in silence, each of them quietly saying their thanks before she walked away from the table.

"Okay, so, Sarah told me that ever since Cas disappeared, there has been this power struggle up in heaven." Natalie picked up the syrup and began to drench her waffles in it. "She said that there are three angels who are fighting for the big, high chair. Daniel, Naomi and Yael."

Dean nodded as he took a bite from his eggs. "Which one is gaining the upper hand?"

"Sarah told me that it was Daniel. Apparently, he's the big angel up there with the most support. But, the way he's going about gaining support, it sounds like a modern day politician."

Sam raised his brow as he chewed his food and gave Natalie a good. "Why's that?"

Natalie cut out a few pieces of her waffle and slowly took the bite. "He's been spreading word amongst the angels that Caden knew about Castiel's plan to open Purgatory, all along."

"Wait, he's saying that Caden was in on it the whole time?" Sam repeated for clarification.

Natalie nodded. "Just think, Cas goes up there and proceeds on a rampage and then he just disappears. The angels are confused and they have no leader. Then this power struggle happens, the candidates are going to do whatever they can to get that seat...even if it means lying their way to the top. Basically, they are so vulnerable, they're willing to believe and follow anything and anyone."

"He's going to be using that even more to his advantage. Have any of the angels even started looking for him yet?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure. If anything Daniel will be the one who sends out the word and then Caden is going to be screwed."

"Let's just hope that this time, they'll keep the fight in their own territory, instead, of bringing it down on all of us."

"They're angels, Dean." Natalie reminded. "They are possibly some of the most self-centered beings I have ever encountered. They don't care about what it could bring down up them or us."

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No. Caden said he wants us to stay out of it. He thinks we already have enough to deal with and he doesn't want us getting into it with the angels anymore."

Dean hummed in response. "That's very considerate of him."

"But, there is something that we should possibly consider." Natalie added. She looked up at Dean and then over at Sam. "We should ask Sarah if she could fix your head. I mean Caden won't be able to, but, maybe she can."

Sam looked at Natalie and then at Dean, seeing that it was something they both were considering. But, Sam was quick to shake his head. "No, we don't need to ask her."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, Sam, you have a clean bill of mental health right now."

Sam sighed. "No, I'm serious. I'm fine. Yeah, every once in a while you guys find me just dazing off, but, it's not a big deal."

"Sam." Natalie began. "Can you please just consider it?"

"I don't need to consider it Nad. I don't need her to fix my head. I'm doing good with dealing with it on my own." Sam's statement seemed to have ended his side of the argument and he went back to eating his food, even though he could see Lucifer sitting across from him.

Natalie shook her head and groaned. "I'm too hungover to argue it with you. So, we'll just leave it at that. Okay, enough of the angels for now. Where are we heading to next?" Natalie asked, before taking a few more bites from her food.

"Prosperity, Indiana." Dean replied with a small grin, trying to lighten the mood after the failed attempt of getting Sam help. "There have been two mysterious deaths within the past week. The first one involved a guy, Carl Dunlop, died from essentially being cooked alive in his own hot tub. And then there's Wendy Goodson, who was a real estate agent who was burnt alive while getting her hair done in a salon."

Natalie and Sam stared at Dean, silently, both of them chewing what was left in their mouths. "Two weird deaths in just a short week." Dean went on to add. "That seems like something right up our alley."

Natalie began to cut into her food and paused, closed her eyes and blew out a breath. A whole new round of dizziness just suddenly hit her. "I guess." She hissed out.

The three of them ate their breakfast at a even pace, although, Natalie stopped halfway through finishing hers. Eating this didn't seem like it was helping her in the slightest. In fact, the churning in her stomach only got worse. But, she tried to ease it away from drinking about five cups of coffee—or maybe it was six. She honestly doesn't remember, it wasn't like she was keeping count.

After Sam and Dean completed their meals, the bill was paid for and a tip was left, the three hunters made their exit. Although, the entire walk to the car was almost like a workout for Natalie. While she was sitting at the table, her dizziness was able to wane slightly, now that she was up and moving, it was in full throttle. When she made it to the car door, Natalie had to stop and gather herself. She could feel an ache in her stomach, but, she didn't think that she was going to vomit everywhere. The most likely cause is from all the coffee she drank not too long ago.

Tearing away from the car, Natalie ran over to the trash can near the restaurant and vomited. Even though all she could hear were her coughs, Natalie was able to point out Dean saying something that was relevant to how disgusting this was. But, she couldn't hint out any real disgust in his voice. If anything, Dean was getting a kick out of this.

Natalie gathered what was left in her mouth and spit it into the trashcan. She slowly leaned away and let out a disgruntled groan. "That was such a waste of waffles."

"Really? That's your main concern?" Dean's voice rang out and reached Natalie's ears.

She leaned away from the trashcan, her arm braced against her stomach and groaned again. "It was."

Sam offered Natalie a sympathetic smile as he took a hold of her arm and guided her back over to the car. He quickly opened the back door for her and she didn't hesitate by quickly lying down on the backseat, her warm cheek rested against the cool leather and she couldn't help, but, sigh in relief. When Dean and Sam were situated in their spots, Natalie opened her eyes and saw the back of their heads.

"How long until we get there?" Her voice was a little off due to the side of her face being pressed against the seat.

Dean looked into the rear view mirror and saw Natalie's body splayed out on the backseat and shook his head. "We have about a six hour drive ahead of us."

"Good. That means I can get some more sleep."

Natalie was able to fall asleep without much trouble. Even when Dean turned on the radio, which Sam tried to turn off several times, it didn't seem to faze Natalie that much. She was _out. _Dean even began to joke that they should try and do some childish prank on Natalie. They currently had a lot on their plate and it would be nice to just let loose some of that stress. But, Sam was quick to shut it down, supporting that he didn't want to have another prank war on his hands. Even though Dean thought that Sam was sucking the fun out of a potentially great war, Dean back down from his initial plan.

They arrived in Prosperity, a little earlier than they had anticipated. Dean made sure to go for a motel so that Natalie would be able to gather herself before they went out for info on the deaths. Natalie made a quick jump in the shower and dried out her hair as much as she could. After getting her clothes on and made sure that she had her badge, Natalie left the motel and hopped into the Impala.

First, they visited the police station, so that they could see the official report. Then, the three of them decided to split up. Sam offered to go and talk with Wendy's sister and that left Dean and Natalie to go and check out the salon, where she died. After dropping off Sam, Dean and Natalie headed for the salon and as they walked up to the door, Dean couldn't help, but, cast Natalie a quick glance.

"You feeling better?"

Natalie gave an unsure nod. "I mean feel a lot more alert. And if you think I'm going to screw this up, I won't. I'm sober enough to not blow our cover."

"I'm just a little more worried about you throwing up all over the place."

Natalie glared at Dean, who only answered with a light smile, to which Natalie rolled her eyes. She didn't necessarily feel at her highest point, but, it was going to be enough to get through this search.

Dean opened the door to the salon, allowing Natalie to walk in first then quickly followed in suit. As they were being approached by one of the workers, Natalie and Dean both pulled out their badges and showed it to the guys, who eyes them curiously.

"The feds are getting in on this?" He asked, his brow raising.

"It's just a few new branches in the department that are being tested out." Dean answered.

Even though that was a very bogus explanation, the guy accepted the reasoning, without much thought. That was something Natalie always loved. Whenever someone would just accept their explanation, without questioning them. It really did save them a lot of trouble.

"What can I do for you then, agents?"

"We're here to investigate the death of Wendy Goodson."

The man's face dropped and Natalie sensed his body began to tense up. "Well, I already told the police what happened. Wouldn't they have told you the report?"

"Yes." Dean replied with a half nod. "But, we just wanted to make sure that all the details are clear. So could you possibly just tell us, what happened that day?" Dean replied.

"Right. Well, it was any other day. Wendy came in to have her hair done, the usual. Then I took her to the hair dryers."

"Can you show us?" Dean asked quickly.

The man nodded and began to guide both of them towards the back of the salon, where he opened two sliding glass doors, revealing a room with a row of hair dryers and chairs.

"I settled her into one of the chairs and then left. Nothing was wrong when I left."

Natalie left Dean's side and made her way over towards the chairs. Walking down the row, she stopped at the sixth or seventh chair and turned to the man. "Is this the chair she was sitting in?" Natalie asked, her hand motioning towards the chair.

"Yes." The man confirmed.

Natalie looked back down at the chair and as Dean began to converse with the guy, Natalie began to search around the chair. From the bits of the conversation Dean was having with the him, what happened to Wendy was something that shouldn't have happened. In fact, according to the guy, it was merely impossible. The hair dryer would have shut down if anything had gone wrong during its operation.

Bending down near the back of the chair, Natalie looked for anything that might have been wrong with the thing itself. There wasn't really anything she could find. Then, she spotted something on the ground, behind the chair and she picked it up. It was a coin of sorts, certainly not one that could be passed off as loose change. Natalie didn't know exactly what this coin was for, but, it was behind the seat that Wendy was in, so it might be something.

Natalie stood back up, the coin in her hand and she gave Dean quick nod, telling him to wrap up the conversation he was having. After they dismissed their questioning, Dean and Natalie walked out of the salon and towards the Impala.

"So, what did you find?" Dean asked, but, his attention was on some random billboard. But, it only remained there for a few seconds.

Natalie opened her palm and held it out towards Dean, who gently took the coin to examine it. "I found it behind the chair that Wendy was in when she died."

Dean inspected the object, his brows were creased and his eyes had narrowed slightly.

"What do you think?" Natalie asked.

"I've never seen anything like this."

"Well, I highly doubt that it just was there by accident. This isn't the kind of coin that I would find in someone's wallet or pocket, even."

Dean pulled out his phone from his pocket and quickly dialed out Sam's number as he handed the coin back over to Natalie.

"Hey, so, Nad may have found something at the salon." Dean said into the phone.

_"What?" _

"She found this strange looking coin behind one of the chairs. And, to be honest, I'm not even sure what the hell this is."

_"Okay, well, it was behind the seat that Wendy died in. You think it might be some kind of hex?" _

"Honestly, I'm not too sure what to think."

Natalie felt her phone go off in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out. Waiting until she was standing by the passenger door, she then answered the call.

"Hello."

_"Agent Wilson?" _

"Yes."

_"Well, you wanted to be contacted if any other incidents occurred and there has been another death." _

"You have a location for me?"

_"The construction site on Harver Lane." _

"Okay, thanks." Natalie pulled the phone away and looked up, seeing that Dean was about to get into the drivers seat, but, he was too busy looking at her.

"What was that call about?" He asked, although, he still had the phone up to his ear.

"There's been another death. The construction site on Harver Lane. We need to get there."

"Alright." Dean nodded. "Sam, we're coming to pick you up, there's been another one."

Natalie entered the car as Dean ended the call and then followed, quickly easing himself into the driver's seat. After turning on the engine, Dean drove away from the salon and back towards where they had dropped Sam off. The entire drive, Natalie was so preoccupied with the coin in her hand. She could only compare to those ancient coins you would find in some museums, on display and whatever was engraved on this thing, she had no way to interpret it. She didn't even notice that they were at Sam's location until Dean had to snap her out of it. After Natalie moved to the backseat, which she didn't have a problem with, she handed Sam the coin, so that he could take a look at it. Just like Dean and Natalie, he wasn't even too sure what to make of it. But, they didn't manage to get far with their deciphering. Before they knew it, they were at the construction site.

The scene was still crawling with several policemen and EMT's and some of the officers were inspecting one of the portable bathrooms and Natalie couldn't help, but, internally groan. _This involves a portable bathroom? _Despite how she felt, Natalie, Dean and Sam began to make their towards the scene. Sam broke from the group and went into a trailer to talk with some of the workers that had returned.

Dean and Natalie made their way over to a group of officers that were surrounding the portable bathroom and Natalie couldn't help, but, scrunch her face up as she saw the body inside the thing, covered with a sheet.

"Well, isn't that a nice sight." Natalie quietly commented as she and Dean both presented their badges as they stopped at the opening.

Natalie took hold of the sheet and gently lifted it up until they both were able to get a clear view of the body. Both were rendered silent, but, Natalie had to bite down on her lip to keep from voicing her disgust.

"Dean?"

"Yeah."

Natalie swallowed and blinked a few times. "He has nails in his eyes. Literally, nails...in his eyes."

"Yeah...I can see that." Dean took the sheet from Natalie's grip and allowed it to drape back over the body.

Turning to the cop who was standing behind them, Dean motioned back over at the body. "So, uh, whose the victim here?"

"Dewey Stevens. He owns a construction company and was out here, following up on a few routine rounds."

"Okay, and, this poor fellow was taking a leak, before, he got pelted by a nail gun?"

The cop gave a slow nod. "All of the other workers had gone home for the day. Everything had been shut down for the day."

Natalie hummed to herself and looked away from the covered body and towards the officer. "Do you have any idea as to how he got bombarded with a nail gun?"

The cop only shrugged his shoulders. "We're not sure. We have been trying to find the power source that the gun might have been hooked up to, but, there are no generators anywhere. Not even in Dewey's truck."

"Okay, well, if you find anything else, just let us know." Dean offered, to which the cop nodded and walked off to talk with some of the other officers.

Dean then quickly turned to Natalie. "Why don't you go and see what Sam was able to find? I'll stay here and have a look around in this...portable place."

Natalie gave Dean a thin smile and patted his shoulder. "Have fun."

Making her way over to the portable trailer, Natalie showed her badge quickly to the officers at the door and then made her way in. Luckily, there was no one, other than Sam, in this place, so, she didn't have to worry about someone overhearing something.

"Hey." She walked over to Sam, who was sitting at a desk, a laptop planted in front of him.

"Hey." Sam replied, turning to look at her quickly. "What did you find out about the victim?" He asked, as he turned back towards the laptop.

"It was...a very interesting thing. He had nails in his eyes."

Sam halted his searching and slowly looked up at Natalie. "Nails? Like, nails, right?"

"Like nails. I mean they were just shot in there pretty good." Natalie replied, her eyes widening towards the end for effect.

"Thanks. Now I have that visual in my mind."

"Sorry." Natalie leaned down towards him. "Did you manage to find anything?"

"Well, I to find something that connects all of the victims. It turns out that they all were connected with a project, which was the construction of a shopping center."

Natalie narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "Wait. If this was something that they all were in on...why didn't we know about it?"

"It's because the whole thing fell apart. These emails here, there were some heated conversations going on between them and then...the whole planning for this place just ceased."

"Okay, so, all of the victims are part of this project, something happens during the whole planning...and now they are all dead? I don't get it."

Sam gave a small shrug as he scrolled down the page. "Well, they all aren't dead. Not yet at least."

Natalie gave Sam a look and then turned her attention on the screen. "What do you mean?"

"They all were working with a guy by the name of Don Stark"

Natalie let out a quick laugh. "Is Tony by any chance his relative?" But, Natalie's little sarcastic reply suddenly fell flat, when the name began to ring familiar to her.

Sam, who had been amused by her remark, looked over at Natalie and could see the quizzical look on her face. She was clearly trying to put something into clear text. "What is it?"

"That name. I know that name from somewhere."

* * *

Natalie, Sam and Dean walked up towards the pathway of a large building, with a bust settle right in the middle of it. The building is decorated with various posters that were promoting an auction that was being held for a charity.

"He seems to be a pretty hands on guy." Natalie commented.

"Alright, so, if all of the other contributors to the shopping center project are dead, then, he should be next." Dean finally spoke up.

Natalie cinched her lips to the side as she noticed the plants that were surrounding the bust were all completely dead. Tilting her head, her eyes narrowed as she thought back to when Dean and her were at the salon. Across the street, there was a bench with Wendy's advertisement on it and the plants there were all dead.

"Do you think that's a little weird?" Natalie motioned at the patch of dead plants.

"Didn't we see something like that back at the salon?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. I don't think it's normal for plants to just be dead like that. I mean if these are dead, then there should be plenty of others that are all dried up."

Sam pulled out his phone when he heard a notification going off. It was an email from Bobby. Before they left the construction site, Sam had sent Bobby photos of the coins Dean and Natalie found at the salon and the construction site.

"Well, we finally have something answered." Sam spoke up. "The coins are Romanian Cyrillic, they were used in the mid-15th to 19th century. Bobby says that it's an antique Wallachian ducat."

"So, basically, whoever owned these coins are Romanian. We just need to find someone whose Romanian then." Dean seemed to offer this is a simple solution.

"Alright, before, we settle on something. How about we go in and talk with Mr. Stark?" Natalie offered.

Sam and Dean complied to Natalie's request by making their way up to the house, with Natalie towing closely behind. They were greeted by a young woman, looked to be in her mid-twenties and Natalie caught Dean giving her a look, which prompted her to nudge him in the side. Luckily, the woman didn't give them any problems, at least, until they showed her their badges. Although, she was reluctant, she allowed them access into the house and quietly led them towards Don's office. When they came the office door, the young woman knocked quickly, waited a few seconds and then opened the door.

"Mr. Stark, I'm sorry to bother you, but, the FBI is here and they really needed to speak with you."

Dean, Sam and Natalie all entered the room, encountering a slightly surprised man, who was sitting at his desk. Even though he really wasn't in the mood for questioning, Don excused his assistant and conjured up a convincing smile for the three of them.

"How can I help you three?"

"We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about the recent deaths here."

Don raised his brows at Dean's words and let out a calm sigh. "I'm guessing if the FBI is getting involved, then, you all must be thinking that these are murders."

"From what we have been able to gather, that is where we are leaning more towards." Dean answered.

"It's a shame really."

Natalie let out a silent scoff. He was trying to sound sincere, but, she could tell by his tone that there really didn't seem to be any, at least, it didn't sound sincere.

"Excuse me. I was wondering if you could tell me where the bathroom was?"

"Yeah, she hasn't been having the best day." Dean was quick to add in his own comment, which garnered him a hardened stare from Natalie.

Nonetheless, Don didn't seem to fazed by the look Dean just received. "Of course. It's just down the hall and first door on the left."

Natalie nodded her thanks and quickly left the room. Instead of turning into the bathroom, she continued on until she reached the foot of the staircase. Taking a quick survey around her, seeing no one was around, she quickly walked up the steps, making sure not to make any noise. Once she reached the top, Natalie was faced with a hallway that had a lot of doors. In a brief moment, she thought back to well over a year ago, when she, Dean and Sam were over at River Pass, Colorado where they encountered War. Sam was taken and the house he was in had multiple rooms on the top floor. Natalie remember how she had to check each room to find Sam. She prayed that she wouldn't have to do it again.

The steps that she took were quiet and in her mind, Natalie was trying to choose which door to go in. She didn't have enough time to search every single room in this house. Without much thought, Natalie headed for the door on the last door on the left at the end of the hallway. Opening the door, she silently prayed that she picked wisely and it seemed to pay off when she saw that she picked, what looked like the master bedroom. It looked normal, a typical generic married couple's bedroom. Not that Natalie had any idea what that really looked like, but, from what she gathered from here, this was normalcy. There was a framed picture on the nightstand of Don and a woman, who Natalie could only surmise was his wife.

Natalie began to walk towards one of the dressers on the other side of the room, but, stopped short at the closet door and she stared curiously at it. Biting down on her lip, she approached and opened the closet door. It was a huge walk in closet, filled with men's clothes and the other side of the closet was completely empty. Seemed like there was trouble in paradise for these two. But, there was nothing that seemed to out of the ordinary, it was just a closest, not much grabbed her attention. Except, in the back corner, Natalie noticed a box sitting on the floor. After stepping closer to it, she noticed only one high heeled shoe with the heel torn off and a star pendant lying on top of the box. Setting the items to the side, Natalie pulled the box closer to her and lifted the lid, only to find various papers with symbols drawn on them and other various objects that she associated with only one thing—witchcraft.

"Well then, Mr. Stark, either your lovely lady is a witch...or this is all your doing."

Natalie closed the box, placed the broken shoe and necklace back on top and stood back up. Turning around, let out a sharp gasp and a hand immediately covered her mouth, to prevent her from making any more noise. Natalie finally calmed and her brows furrowed deeply at the sight of Sam giving her a look.

With a roll of her eyes, Natalie pulled his hand away from her mouth. "Why do you always insist on sneaking up on me like that?" Natalie asked in a harsh, low tone.

"You were gone for a little bit, I wanted to come and see what was keeping you."

"Well, you could've said something or made a little bit of noise so I could know you were here."

"What did you find?" Sam asked, steering the conversation in a different direction.

"Well, Mr. Stark, is married...or was. I don't know what the official status is on that. Plus, there's that." Natalie turned and pointed at the box on the floor. "A broken heel, a necklace and inside the box, witchcraft materials."

Sam's brows raised, his eyes moving to look at the box for a moment. "You sure it was witchcraft."

"No doubt in my mind. So, either his wife is a witch or maybe he's trying to dabble in this dark magic stuff."

"Maybe it's his wife."

"Why would you think it was her?"

Sam shrugged. "Well, while you were up here, Dean and I were able to get a little first hand look at the flirt show going on with Don and his assistant."

"Wait, that blonde woman who answered the door?"

Sam nodded.

Natalie went silent as she began to put it together. "Okay, but, how does that explain the deaths of the other victims? I'm sure he didn't have affairs with all of them."

"I'm not sure."

"We should probably get back down there then." Natalie went to walk first, when she stopped and turned to Sam. "And stop sneaking up on me. It's going to get us in trouble one of these days."

After only receiving a small laugh as a confirmation, Natalie lead the way out of the closet, quietly closed the door, before, the two of them began to make their way back downstairs. As they made their way back towards Don's office, they could overhear Dean having a conversation with him about Donald Trump. Not exactly something Natalie thought she would ever hear Dean talk about, but, there's always a first for everything. When they entered, Don gave Natalie a look and raised his brows.

"Is everything alright?"

Natalie stood in a confused silence, until she remembered that she asked him to use the restroom and Dean made the case worse with his comment. "Oh yeah. Everything's fine. But, there is something that I wish to ask you. What happened between you and your wife?"

The question stunned Don enough to where Natalie began to think that the question was a little abrupt. But, she was able to save it.

"I mean, from what we've heard from others. Your marriage seems to be at a stand still."

That did the trick. Don's surprised expression slowly turned somber and he nodded his head. "Yes. I've been going through some marriage struggles."

"What kind?" Sam asked.

"Just, the usual. I mean you must know what it's like." Don directed the last part at Sam, who only shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't. At least, not the marital part of a relationship."

Natalie forced herself to suppress the smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Well, it's hard to describe." Don decided to settle for that incomplete thought.

"Did she catch you cheating?" Natalie knew that she would be treading on some very thin ice at this point. She had been mentally debating on when to jump the gun, but, the question just kind of spilled out.

Don furrowed his brows. "What?"

Sam decided to elaborate on Natalie's question. "Well, I mean my partner and I saw that little show that was going on between you and your assistant."

"Oh that was nothing. I'm a businessman. I interact with people on a daily basis. I can't help it if I'm friendly. And, I also happen to admire very strong and dynamic women."

Dean, Sam and Natalie all narrowed their eyes at him, although, Sam and Natalie's stare seemed to be a little more doubtful. "Are you sure it was just...admiration?" Natalie went onto ask.

Don licked at his lips and sighed. "It's true, I had a little thing with a business associate a while ago, but that was it."

"A thing?" Natalie asked. "Well, we women tend to think that an affair, which is what it is actually called, is kind of a big deal."

"Fine, it was an affair. Well, my wife Maggie found out and she needed just some time off."

Natalie's eyes widened. "Time off. That's what you call it?" Then a thought sparked up in Natalie's mind and her mouth slightly parted. "This associate that you had an affair with...did that happen to be Wendy Goodson?"

Dean let out a breath. "If we get this right, maybe we can win that trip to Maui."

"The affair between Wendy and I ended a while ago. Her accident has nothing to do with it."

"How are you so sure that it was an accident?" Dean asked.

"You think that it wasn't? You think Maggie might be behind it?"

Dean gave a small shrug. "We're not saying anything right now. It's just, if I were you, you should take your wife out for dinner and apologize. Maybe even beg for her forgiveness."

"I appreciate the thought." Don pushed Dean's advice to the side. "But, I have something that I need to attend to, so, is there anything else you need to know?"

The three hunters were quick to assure Don that they didn't need anymore information. That lead them straight to the front door and Don didn't need to lead them out. Once they left, they began to make their way off the property.

"So, what did you manage to find?" Dean asked, turning to look at Natalie.

"I found a whole bunch of hex stuff in his closet. Of course, all of Maggie's clothes are gone and it seems like she doesn't have any intentions of coming back."

"Okay, so, Don and Wendy have some kind of fling and then his wife decides to take care of it herself."

Natalie cinched her lips to the side and shook her head. "But, if their affair ended a while ago, did Maggie just find out about it? Because, I highly doubt that's the case."

"You think that Don might be into all of this witchcraft stuff? Or do you think he's in the dark with it all?" Dean was the one to ask the question that was on all their minds.

"We might need a little more time before we can settle on a decision to that question." Sam's statement was the only answer that could satisfy all of them. At least, for the time being.

The three of them stopped just a few feet from the front door and noticed that all of the flowers were dead. "Seriously, what is with all of these random dead flowers?" Sam's tone gave off genuine confusion.

"It's the same thing with Wendy's bench and Don's statue. All of the flowers around there are all dead." Dean added.

"Okay, so, what do you both think?" Natalie asked. "Maybe, Maggie is pissed enough that she's setting off this kind of chain reaction?"

"That is very potent aggression then." Dean pulled put his phone and dialed out a number, then motioned for Sam and Natalie to follow. "Hey Bobby. So, we're gonna need our own Terminix for a witch, so, uh, we need you to get on it."

* * *

Natalie made her way towards the local town hall. Sam and Dean had dropped her off, after discussing a plan for them to split up. Dean and Sam would head over to Maggie's house, to try and scout out any info on the next victim. Natalie decided to take the more difficult route and try to get information from Maggie herself. Dean was quick to comment that it would be very unlikely that Natalie would get anything from her, but, Natalie made the point of possibly nailing this from two ways. Even if she came up empty, Natalie could only hope that Sam and Dean will be successful in their endeavor of breaking into Maggie's home. After talking around, they were able to find out that Maggie was working on the auction they saw the banner for and Natalie had a sneaking feeling that she would be spending most of her time there. After all, her husband had cheated on her, it would definitely be something that Natalie would do. A nice distraction from it all.

Natalie made her way up the buildings steps, having to step out of the way to allow movers to bring in art pieces. When she finally stepped through the open door, Natalie couldn't help, but, be swept away from the scale of this building. She hunched her arms close to her body, feeling a chill run down her spine. One of the things she hated most about art galleries, they always seem to be cold. The front hall itself was fairly big and it was so empty, there was literally nothing occupying the space.

Natalie hummed to herself at the concept of this space being wasted as she made her way towards the room where the auction was going to be held. She slowed her pace when she saw two people standing close to the doorway and her eyes widened when she realized one of them was Don. She quickly hid herself behind the wall, next to the open door and was able to pick up on their conversation. Realizing that a few workers had been eyeing her, she looked down to her right and found a table with pamphlets about the occasion. Picking one up, she tried to make herself look less noticeable.

_"Alright, Maggie. I've been holding myself back long enough. You've had your little fun with Wendy, which was very creative. Now, it's time for you to stop." _

_"Stop? Are you kidding? That was just the beginning of it all. What I did to Wendy, it's not even close to being enough for me." _

_"Dammit, Maggie. How long is this going to go on for?"_

_"As long as it takes." _

_"You know that it wasn't all my fault! You know, if you had just spent a little more time with me instead of this damn auction then none of this would've happened. Plus, Sue is just making it all worse." _

_"Well, I'm sorry Mr. Big Shot. But, I do have a life outside of you, believe it or not." _

_"Three FBI agents came over to the house." _

Natalie's eyes widened and her panic shot up as her cell phone started to go off. The ringtone echoed around the hallway. Dropping the pamphlet on the table, Natalie tried desperately to find her phone, but was only fumbling with her jacket. Without thinking, Natalie took off and made her way back towards the front entrance and made a hasty exit. Even though her ringtone was still blaring, she waited until she was well away from the building before answering the call.

"What?" Natalie's voice was slightly harsh and it made the caller hum on the other end.

_"What's with the attitude?"_ Bobby's voice came through.

"You caught me in a really bad time. I almost got caught."

_"What the hell are you doing? I call Dean and he tells me he's busy and to call you. Now, you were in a situation. Why aren't you with them?" _

Natalie rolled her eyes at Bobby's questioning. "It's not important. We just decided to split. Why did Dean have you call me?"

_"Dean asked me to find a recipe for this witch problem you got going on." _

"And?" Natalie asked, becoming impatient.

_"And...I have the ingredients." _

"Fine." Natalie fumbled around with her jacket pockets until she was able to pull out the small notebook she always carried around with her. "What are they?"

Natalie quickly jotted down the ingredients, having to stop Bobby several times so that she could catch up and so that he could repeat some of them. When the ingredients were written down and Natalie read them back just to make sure they were correct, she ended the call with Bobby, promising to call him when the case was done. As if on cue, Natalie spotted Don leaving the building, still looking a little heated from his argument with Maggie. Natalie watched him quietly as he stopped to look at his bust, which suddenly broke down the middle of the face, the loose piece falling to the ground. Her eyes narrowed briefly as she watched his reaction, he definitely was pissed. As she watched him get back to his car, Natalie's phone began to go off again and she quickly answered it.

"Yeah."

"Hey, so, we found out who the next victim was. It was Don's assistant."

"No, surprise there. Wait, she was?"

"Sam and I were able to get to her before she actually croaked."

Natalie sighed in her own relief. "That's good." Her eyes followed Don's car as it drove down the street and disappeared around the corner.

"What did you manage to find?"

"Well, Don is apparently all apart of this. I mean, he's a witch too. I overheard them having a little argument in the art gallery. I didn't get too much because Bobby called me and well, I had my ringtone on."

Dean let out a snort on the other end. "Good job with that one."

"Whatever. Anyway, Maggie is getting even more pissed and now we have another ultra pissed husband who also happens to be a witch. This is not going to be good Dean. They both will tear this place apart."

"Okay. Alright, um, did Bobby call you yet?"

Natalie looked down at the notebook in her hand. "Yeah, he gave me the ingredients for the spell and some of it is pretty...gross."

"Well, just read off the list and we'll split the job of purchasing them."

Reading off the list went quickly and of course, Dean would be the one to command Natalie to get the worst ingredient on the list. Chicken's feet. Natalie visibly shook at the thought of having to carry bags full of feet from poor dead chickens. Regardless of how repulsed she felt by it, Natalie trudged through town to collect the necessary ingredient. The ripple effect of Maggie's powers were becoming more prominent. Many stores were having rolling blackouts, some of them lasting for the majority of the day. The markets that Natalie visited were being limited with their supplies due to it. There were also a few stores that she passed where the pipes had burst, causing some places to close down. Natalie admitted that she felt bad for all these people. They were suffering the brunt of a disruptive marriage between two witches. But, she was growing frustrated from having to leave one store for another due to this case.

The frustration she felt was given more foundation to grow upon. She had been out much of the afternoon and now, the sun had gone down and she was trudging her way back towards the motel. She could have called Dean and forced him to come pick her up, but, she decided to just deal with her aching feet and try to get to the motel as quick as she could. To get to the motel, Natalie had to cut through the busiest part of the town and past the local town hall. When she passed it, however, Natalie was a little surprised to see the entire building crawling with police and an ambulance.

"What the hell?"

Natalie walked across the street and sauntered up to the building. A group of people had already gathered at the police tape line and when she tried to get through, she was stopped by an officer. She reached for her badge, fumbling for a minute due to the bag in her hand but, she was able to find her badge and she was given access into the scene.

"You want to start telling me what happened?"

"We got a call from one of the attendees at the auction, said that a woman had been decapitated."

Natalie looked over at the officer. "Decapitated?"

"We didn't really believe it either, until we all got here."

Before they made it into the building, Natalie paused and looked down at the bag in her hand. Pursing her lips to the side, she turned to another officer who was staring at her and handed it to him.

"Please, hold this. And, please don't look in there. Personal items."

Natalie and the officer walked into the building and made the short journey to the auction room. When they reached the threshold, the officer gestured down at a body lying on the floor, covered in a sheet. Natalie walked towards the body, panning up to seeing that several of the artworks looked like they had been melted. Taking hold of the sheet, Natalie lifted it, just slightly, enough for her to see the decapitated body of a young woman.

"Have you guys managed to find any leads?" Natalie asked as he laid the sheet back over the body.

"Not yet, we're still working on a few things."

Natalie stood back up and nodded at the officer. "Well, I'll need to talk with my partners. Let one of us know if you find something."

The officer nodded before going about with this case. Natalie stood in place, taking one final sweep of the art gallery and pressed her tongue to the side. There was no way that Maggie would do this to something that she was so fond of. This had to be Don. No question about it and that only meant that this little argument between them would soon turn into some kind of personal battle. She had to get back to the motel. Natalie exited the building and found the officer with her bag, but, he was trying to open it. His curiosity must have gotten the best of him.

Natalie walked over to him and grabbed the bag. "Didn't I say to not look in it. Personal. Items."

The man only seemed oblivious to Natalie's words and with a roll of her eyes, she told him to help the others inside the building, to which he quickly went to work at. Taking some solace that the police were handling this, Natalie quickly left the scene and made sure to move as quickly as she could. She had already taken so long to get the damn chicken feet, Natalie was actually surprised that neither Sam or Dean have called her. Natalie finally reached the motel parking lot and jogged across the lot, only stopping once she was at the motel door. Sliding in her key, she quickly opened the door, seeing Sam and Dean sitting at the table near the door.

Natalie blew out a tired sigh and held up the bag for them to see. "I got what you ordered. Chicken feet." She dropped the bag onto the table.

Unfortunately, Dean was eating a slice of pie and the smell from the bag finally reached him and he groaned in disgust. "Seriously, I'm eating."

"Oh, well, boo hoo. I just walked the entire town this whole afternoon to purchase these things." Natalie walked over to the bed and fell against the mattress, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. "By the way, the whole domestic between Don and his wife is probably going to get worse very quickly."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well, on my way back, I saw that there were a bunch of police cars at the town hall, where the auction was. And the entire place was ruined and one woman was dead. So, this whole thing needs to be ended. And I mean it needs to be taken care of like, right now."

"Alright." Dean stood up from the chair and began to make his way to the bathroom. "Let's start getting ready."

Natalie closed her eyes and rubbed at her eyelids. "I just got here."

"Come on, Nad. Get up." Sam gently nudged Natalie's leg which only made her groan again.

Natalie then held out her arm to him and he took hold of it and gently pulled her up until she was standing on her feet. With Natalie's unenthusiastic attitude, the three hunters gathered up the ingredients they needed and Natalie changed out of her FBI clothes before they headed out to Don's home. As they pulled up to the house, they arrived just in time to see Maggie storming into the property.

"It looks like they are about to go through a showdown in there." Dean commented.

"Okay, well here."

Natalie picked up the bowl from the backseat, which already contained all of the combined ingredients, and handed it to Sam. She didn't want to have that thing near her anymore. Dean checked to make sure that he had the matches and checked with Sam, ensuring that he remembered the spell Bobby had given them. Once they were all set, the three hunters got out of the car and began to make their way towards the house, although, Sam was making sure to be careful with the bowl in his hands. Natalie made sure to get ahead of them and threw open the front door, allowing Dean and Sam to make their way in quickly. Natalie then followed as Dean began to chant the spell from memory. Taking the matches, he lit up a few of the sticks and threw them in the bowl. Natalie jumped slightly as white smoke billowed from the contents and the five occupants were left standing in silence.

Natalie looked around the room, painfully aware that Maggie and Don were not affected by it...like at all. Looking over at Dean, Natalie could tell that the spell didn't work.

"Really?" Maggie finally spoke. "Did you at least used chilled chicken feet?"

Natalie's expression fell and she her lips pursed forward. "I spend all afternoon looking for this stuff. And it didn't even work." She quickly commented at Dean, who only gave a small shrug.

"Well, you three will be leaving. But, I should clarify that you won't be alive." Don spoke, causing the three hunters to go still.

Natalie's eyes widened as Don and Maggie began to chant some form of spell and she began to gently tap at Dean's arm. "What do we do?"

"Plan B." Sam quickly offered.

Both Dean and Natalie turned to him, brows creased. "Plan B?" Dean asked. "We never came up with a plan B."

"It's right in our faces. We need to counsel them." Sam answered.

Dean and Natalie simply stared at Sam. "Are you serious? You really think now is the time to do that?" Natalie asked.

"This is obviously a domestic dispute that we intruded on, so, we need to talk with them." Sam finished in a hushed tone.

Dean quickly stepped forward and placed the bowl down on the arm of one of the chairs. "Okay, okay, listen. Obviously, you both are pissed and you both have the capability to wipe each other out. But, the thing is, you haven't done that yet. So, that must be good right? Because that means you two still value whatever it is that's between you. And you know, maybe...maybe it's love. The erotic, kinky, clamps and feathers kind of love."

Natalie couldn't help, but, roll her eyes. Dean had started off really good and then he just had to go down that route. Of course he would. Sam felt the same way as he quickly stepped forward and motioned for Dean to step back.

"Okay, look, all he's trying to say is, what you two have with each other, it means that you two are bonded."

Maggie scoffed. "Are you kidding me? He cheated on me! Humiliated me!"

"Look, we're not trying to defend Don's actions. But, when there is trouble in a relationship, it usually is on both ends."

"You're defending him!" Maggie's eyes widened as she raised her arm out to Sam, who quickly crumpled to the floor.

Natalie raised her hand up at Maggie. "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Dean tapped Natalie on the shoulder, signaling that he would take the reins on this. "Okay, listen. No one is trying to defend Don. And we get that you are hurt, because, you have the right to be."

Don casted Dean a look. "Now you're just sucking up to her."

Natalie sidestepped as Dean was thrown across the room, through a set of doors that led to another room. She was the only one left standing and she thought it was time for her to speak up. But, she stopped when she saw Sam get back up on his feet.

"Okay, look. I'm just going to say that I honestly believe that Don regrets his whole thing with Wendy." Sam's words seemed to have just fell out of his mouth, he sounded so out of breath.

But, his words only enraged Maggie even more. "Thing?"

Natalie cringed at Sam's mistake. "Don't call it a thing." She quietly said. Sam, of course, found himself back on the ground, curling on his side in pain.

Natalie could only look around at Dean and Sam, seeing that they both were down and that she was the only one to try and help these two work it out. Turning back towards Don and Maggie, Natalie bit down on her lip and slowly moved closer to them.

"The only thing that he regrets is getting caught." Maggie commented.

"Wendy was nothing to me. It was over as soon as it started."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't start with me. I've lived through 800 years of your crap. The Renaissance ring any bells?"

"Oh, don't you bring up the Renaissance. 1492 sound familiar to you?"

"Excuse me!" Natalie finally called out, causing both Don and Maggie to snap their heads in her direction. "Hi. Um, listen, I'm gonna try and play fair ball with both of you. Maggie, woman to woman, I understand that you felt betrayed and hurt and you have every right too."

"Ah. See. Thank you for understanding." Maggie quickly commented, which made Don stare daggers at Natalie.

"And I am not excusing Don's actions, but, I do believe that he does regret what happened. Like you said, you two have been together for over 800 years. Not everyone gets that chance, but, all relationships have hurdles and they have bumps in the road. Trust me, I know this. Obviously, you both have made mistakes in the past, but, look at you two. Despite this problem that you're encountering now, you two were still together. And it's been that way for a long time. So, maybe, that should tell you something. That you two are meant to stay together. No matter what. And I think that you two love each other enough that you won't physically harm one another. At least, I hope not."

Don and Maggie remained silent and their eyes still remained on Natalie, but, their expression seemed to soften with realization. And Natalie could feel just a tiny trickle of relief start to form in the pit of her stomach.

"She's right." Don finally said. "I'm sorry Maggie. Really, I am. And she's right, I could never kill you."

"I could never kill you either." Maggie wrapped her arms around Don. "Even though it seems kinda crazy, but, it's true."

Natalie felt a relieved smile appear, but, it soon faltered as Don and Maggie ensued in a make out session. The awkwardness that Natalie felt was suffocating and when she turned to look at Sam, he had the same awkward look on his face. Natalie slowly mouth the words, s_hould we leave?, _only to have Sam shrug.

Dean finally got up to his feet and leaned against the threshold of the door he was thrown through and caught his breath. "God, my head is throbbing right now."

* * *

The three hunters eventually left Don's house after a really awkward moment of just standing there, watching two witches lock lips with each other. They can't say that they weren't relieved that it was over, but, that was probably something they all could've done without. But, when they returned to their motel, Don came in a short time after, taking out three coins Maggie had placed there. It would be safe to say that the three of them were thoroughly surprised from this and thanked Don for having the mercy of coming over and finding them before Maggie had her way.

After Don came to the rescue, Dean voiced that he needed a break and they all decided to head for a fairly late dinner at one of the local restaurants. Sam and Natalie didn't have any complaints about it. Honestly, they all needed a break. But, Natalie left the table and went outside so that she could call Bobby and tell him how the case went. Of course, she had to explain how they ended up solving it by acting like marriage counselors. Of course, Bobby actually had a really good laugh at that, but, Natalie couldn't help herself. She even admitted that there were elements of it that amused her.

However, after the phone call ended, Natalie remained outside, leaned up against the Impala. She knew that her food was ready while she was out there, but, she just wanted a few more minutes alone. Natalie had a feeling that Sam would come out and see what was taking so long and sure enough, she was right. Sam came strolling out of the building and made his way over to the Impala.

"You know your food is ready, right?"

Natalie looked over at him and nodded. "Yeah, I could have figured."

Sam looked around for a moment before joining Natalie by leaning next to her on the car. "What's on your mind then?"

Natalie smiled. "We just played Dr. Phil to witches. Seriously, when the last time that you were able to act like marriage counselors." Natalie finished with a quick laugh.

Sam smiled and raised his brows. "Yeah, no, that was a first for Dean and I as well."

"I think we did pretty good. I wouldn't doing that as a job."

"Marriage counselors. Your job is to hear couples tell you their problems and to help them solve it. Would you really want to do that as a job?"

Natalie tilted her head in thought and then cringed slightly. "Well...I don't know, maybe. It's just weird to see witches having normal domestic issues with their relationships."

"As Dean always likes to say, there's a first for everything."

Natalie looked over at Sam and the conversation they had at the café back in Ohio. She asked Sam if he would be willing to let Sarah help him with his head and perhaps, find something to cure it. Sam turned it down immediately, which irked Natalie, but, she left it alone, until now.

"Sam. Remember when I mentioned about asking Sarah to help you?"

Sam closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Clearly, he didn't want to talk about this, but, Natalie wanted to try and get him to change his mind. "Nad..."

"Sam, I'm serious. I could ask her if there is something she can do for you. Maybe, she could even cure it."

"Nad. I'm fine. Really, I know that you're worried about me, but, I'm serious. I'm fine. I don't need Sarah to come and fix this."

Natalie pushed herself away from the car and went to stand in front of Sam, her arms crossed over her chest. "You say that you're fine, maybe you are. But, what if it gets worse? What are you going to do then?"

Sam could just keep on saying that he was fine, but, it was a lie. Lucifer was still ever so present, despite the fact that Sam had a trick of getting rid of him, for a while at least. But, Natalie's words were ringing true to Sam. What if it does start to get worse? It was a thought that he had done well of keeping out of his mind. Sam was trying to keep himself in a somewhat positive mindset. He was going to be fine. That's what he always told himself. As long as he kept himself busy, he would be fine. However, when he takes reality into consideration, everything Natalie has told him was true. He didn't want Sarah to help him, because he felt that he had it under control. For the time being. Sam knew he had to be prepared for everything to turn to hell.

"I'll tell you what." Sam finally spoke and leaned away from the car. "If it does get really bad and I won't be able to handle it. Then, we can ask Sarah for help. Alright?"

It wasn't the answer that she was hoping to hear, Natalie knew that this was the best she was going to get from him. Why? Because, Sam is so damn stubborn. She knows that he doesn't make it difficult on purpose, it's just sometimes, Natalie just wants to slap him sense into him. Luckily, she refrained herself from doing that. Instead, Natalie walked forward, pressed her body against his and rested her head against his chest, allowing her arms to snake around his waist.

"I'm just worried about you."

Sam secured his arms around her and gave a small squeeze, which made Natalie let out a small, faint groan and Sam faintly smiled at it. "I'm fine, Nad."

Just as his words left his mouth, Sam could see Lucifer leaning against the car next to them, tracing his finger against the window and whistling to some song that Sam couldn't make out. Out of instinct, Sam tightened his hold around her and snapped his eyes shut as he rested his chin against the top of her head.

He had to be fine. He was going to be fine. Sam felt incredibly guilty for thinking this, but, he knew that he wasn't going to let Sarah help him. This was something that he wanted to fight on his own. "I'm fine." He repeated, mentally marking it as his own determination to fight this, no matter the cost.

* * *

**So how did you all like it? Don't forget to check out the poll on my profile! Don't forget to check out my tumblr and send me a message there (only if you'd like to) Until next time!**


	8. Woodland Escapade

_A/N: I am so deeply sorry for the long wait with this chapter. As you all may know, school started up and I got my butt kicked in the first month, hence why this chapter took so long. But, I'm hoping that I'll be able to plan out these chapters better so I can write them faster. Don't forget to check out the poll on my profile. So, let's get on with the chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

Mason, Utah, Nelson Park, 8:30 A.M.

The call had come in at about 7:40 in the morning. Not that he wasn't used to it, Adam had grown accustomed to being called at early hours about incidents that had been called in. And from the brief description he got from the dispatcher, this didn't sound like an unusual incident. It was about an attack that happened out at Nelson Park. Possibly an animal attack, which they hardly had to deal with in that area.

Adam didn't think that this case would be any different from the other few attacks that happened in that park. Despite how he felt, he forced himself to make the twenty minute drive up the park. When he arrived, the scene was crawling with police officers and a few ambulances were parked. Stepping out of the car, Adam began to make his way towards the crime scene and his partner, who was talking with the remaining victim, quickly began to follow him.

"Well good morning to you." Caroline said, calmly.

Adam only blinked and hummed in his own exhaustion. "It's never a good morning when your alarm is a call about an attack."

"Can't argue with that. But, you look like you need a boost so, here." Caroline casually handed a coffee cup over to Adam, who took it without looking.

This had been a regular thing to happen between them. Caroline knew how Adam worked when he was pulled out of sleep. He needed something to wake him up and coffee was always the way to go.

"So, you going to give me the all of the details?" Adam asked before taking a drink from the cup.

"Right. A group of people were walking through the trail up here. They noticed that a campsite looked a little disheveled and when they came to investigate it, they found no one. So, they immediately called it in and some of the officers were dispatched out here."

Caroline and Adam had made it up the main hill, towards the scene and both ducked under the police tape that had been set up. They both came to a halt in front of the scene. The camp was messy. The tent had been torn and the structure was taken down, it was nothing more than a lump of fabric, camping gear was sprawled across the dirt and they spotted a pair of footsteps that were scattered wildly around, like the campers were trying to find the right way to go. But, that was all he saw. No animal tracks, just footprints.

"How many victims were there? And who were they?" Adam asked as he knelt down near the ground.

"Carly Johnson along with her sister Nicole and friend Alice were out here camping."

Adam followed a set of the footprints which brought him around the entire campsite and then went off into the woods. The footprints eventually disappeared since the entire ground was covered in grass and not dirt.

"Alright. No animal tracks in the area surrounding the camp. Their footprints circle around the camp once and then they disappear through here." Adam looked into the woods, seeing it being lit by the sun that was starting to come up.

"Okay, so let's think. Judging from the footprints, they were panicked and they had no idea where to go. Finally, they run into the woods because..." Caroline pointed at the wooded area.

"Possibly something stalking them around the campsite and scared them enough to where they just go blazing into the woods."

Caroline stared at the scene and shook her head. "But, what could scare them so much? I mean we don't have problems here with animal attacks. A few on occasion, but nothing this serious."

"I know. Especially, if you take into consideration that I don't see any animal tracks around here. Maybe it wasn't a four legged creature."

"So, what, you think that they might have been kidnapped?"

Adam stood back up and turned to her. "I'm not too sure. That isn't to out of the ordinary."

"No it's not. What do you want to do then?"

Adam took a glance around the area and then finally settled on his plan. "Alright, our main priority is to try and find those girls. I want our men scouting the area. Let's set up a perimeter of about 200 ft. From this camp site and then spread out. We need to cover as much land, find anything that could pertain to the case."

"Alright." Caroline turned towards the group of officers behind her. "Alright! Let's head out. Set up a 200 ft. perimeter and branch out from there."

Adam stood by as Caroline began to lead the mean towards the area where they needed to start the search. He could spot a case that was different. He has encountered several of them too many times. Adam walked away from the campsite and found himself a small area where there were no police officers and pulled out his phone. Scanning through his contacts he finally settled on the name that had popped into his head the minute he knew this case was different. However, he was slightly reluctant. Maybe he should wait a little longer, just to make sure this Isn't some kidnapping or usual case. Adam stared back down at the name one more time, his thumb hovering over it. Eventually concluding that the call would wait, just a little longer.

The name. Thomas Collins.

* * *

_Two Days Later..._

Dean downed the last of his beer and eyed the empty bottle briefly before getting up to retrieve a new one. Pulling the beer out of the fridge, he took a quick glance down at his watch. He had just woken about forty minutes ago and Sam and Natalie weren't in the motel room. He tried calling them several times, until he found a handwritten note say that they had gone out. _Out where? _They were in some town, they had never been to before, where the hell could they have gone? Dean figured that he would just have to sit with his own curiosity until they came back or one of them decides to call him back.

They haven't had a job in about a week, since that whole fiasco with counseling two witches. Dean pulled over Sam's laptop and began to search away for any cases that they might be able to take up. Ten minutes into his search, he came up empty handed. Usually, by now, he would have been able to find some kind of hints at some weird activity. Nothing.

Dean blew out a breath and continued looking until he stumbled upon the gem. "This might be something." He clicked open the news article and began to read through it when the motel door opened.

Looking up, Natalie and Sam sauntered into the motel room, each of them holding a plastic bag with food and smiles on both their faces.

Dean gave them both a look. "Where have you two been?"

"We went out for a walk." Natalie answered as she placed the bag down on the table.

"A walk?" Dean raised his brows. "Why did you two go on a walk?"

Natalie tilted her head to the side, shredding off her jacket and tossing it onto the bed. "What? Are we not allowed to go out and take a walk? What kind of world is this?"

Dean rolled his eyes at Natalie's sarcastic tone. "Where did you two even go to walk?"

Natalie and Sam both took a seat at the table as the three of them took out a sandwich from the bags. "They had this really nice little park..." Natalie began as she unwrapped the sandwich. "And there were these trails that went into the woods. It was really...nice. You should've come with us."

"Well, so much for waking me up." Dean commented.

Sam smiled at Dean. "We did try waking you up."

"And you basically told us to screw off." Natalie added before taking a bite.

Dean hardly acknowledged their explanation, since he didn't remember being woken up at all. "You two could've at least answered my calls."

"Service wasn't good out there." Sam replied offhandedly.

"Whatever." Dean set down his sandwich and chewed at the contents in his mouth. "Check this out. I think I might've found our next case." He turned the laptop around and pushed it towards them.

"A group of campers have gone missing this week. This is at a local park up in Mason, Utah. The camp was completely eradicated, the occupants are missing and the police have no leads as to what might have done it."

Natalie and Sam chewed slowly as they intently read through the article. Natalie pressed her tongue against her cheek and nodded.

"Are the police sure that it wasn't possibly a really bad animal attack? I mean they are in a park."

"Nope. All of the campers are missing. There is absolutely no trace of them. They found no animal tracks anywhere near the scene, at least I don't think they do."

"So, you think that this could be something?" Sam asked.

Dean half shrugged. "We haven't had a job in over a week. Things have been a little quiet. Something about this seems off."

Natalie leaned back in her seat and wiped her hands over her pants, a habit she always tried to shed. "Okay. So, Mason, Utah...that sounds like about a twelve hour drive from here. When do you wanna head out?"

Dean closed the laptop and resumed his eating. "Well, I'm rested. I can make the drive so maybe, once we get done here..." He motioned at the table. "We'll pack up and head out."

They actually took their time with the meal. It doesn't take them that long to eat anyways and usually hurrying a meal often led to them having bad stomach aches. After disposing of the trash, the three of them went to work packing up their clothes. Dean made the quick trip down to the front desk to check out.

"We need to do that more often." Natalie spoke up, shoving a sweater into her bag.

"Do what?" Sam asked, a little preoccupied with his things.

Natalie leaned up and looked over at him as she folded one of her shirts. "Going out for walks. I haven't done that in a while. It was nice."

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We will."

"So, what do you think about this whole case that Dean found?"

"I don't know. Seems a little off, but, Dean usually tends to look more into things."

Sam finished packing his bag and noticed that Dean left after almost finishing. Deciding to do it for him, Sam walked by Natalie towards Dean's bed. As he brushed by, Sam placed his hands on Natalie's shoulders, giving them a few gentle squeezes to which Natalie only smiled at the gesture.

"Are you doing okay?" That was about the fifth time Natalie had asked that question to Sam and yet, he didn't seem to be annoyed by it.

"Yeah, I'm fine Nad."

"I know that feels like the hundredth time I've asked you this week, but, I can never be too sure."

Sam silently chuckled. "You don't have to apologize."

Natalie scoffed. "Who said anything about me apologizing?"

"That's your long version of an apology. I've heard it many times and I've learned how to decipher it." Sam casted her a quick look.

Natalie rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Think what you want to think."

The bags were all packed and they were ready to leave the motel, but, Natalie made sure to snatch one of the pillows. She was going to pass out during the ride, no doubt. Might as well have something nice to rest your head against.

The beginning of the drive started off simple. Dean was informing both of them what he had read about this case in Utah. A group of young women were out camping and their campsite was found in a complete mess and they were nowhere to be found. The conversation didn't last that long, they didn't have enough information to keep a full length discussion going and they all descended into a comfortable silence. Dean eventually vouched for turning on the radio, keeping it at a nice volume. Natalie eventually settled down on the backseat and passed out and Sam followed not too long after her. And Dean was more than fine with it. He liked it when it was just "him" in the car.

Finally, they had made it to Mason, Utah. Sam had woken up while they were still an hour outside the town, but, Natalie was still fast asleep. Dean pulled the car into the parking lot of a motel, when he suddenly thought of a great way to wake Natalie up. He brought the car to a halt in the middle of the lot and Sam looked at his brother.

"Wait a minute." Dean remarked quietly.

Taking a quick look back at Natalie, he couldn't help, but laugh at his idea. Shifting the car into reverse, he brought the car back until he was a good length away from the parking space he was going to pull into. Then, switching into drive, Dean silently asked Sam if he was ready, to which he only replied with a confused look. Sam had no idea what his brother was trying to do. Pressing his foot down on the accelerator, Dean half gunned the car and turned into the spot, then heavily pressed his foot down on the brakes. Both Sam and Dean surged forward towards the dash, however, the sound of Natalie screaming as her body fell off the seat and made impact on the car floor made Dean laugh.

Dean put the car into park and both he and Sam looked back to see Natalie, wedged between the back of their seats and hers.

"Dean!" Natalie's voice was hoarse and her annoyance of being woken up like this was too strong to miss.

"Wake up sunshine!" Dean cheerfully remarked and he looked over the seat ledge and down at her.

Natalie stared daggers up at Dean, but it only made him laugh even more. Seeing her wedged like that was priceless. Even Sam couldn't help himself from laughing. Natalie grabbed the pillow from the seat and brought it up until it made a soft thud against the side of Dean's face. Only then did he stop laughing and the hit made Natalie let out a triumphant _ha. _

Sam only commented on how they were acting like children. It was a given at this point. From how long Natalie has been with them, she and Dean always enjoyed the playful and childish tendencies with their friendship. Even though it made them look ridiculous, it did provide a kind of reliever for the group.

Natalie worked herself free from her confinement and helped with the bags from the trunk. Checking in and obtaining their room keys was quick. They got dressed in their uniforms and headed out the door. They decided to start their job at Nelson Park. The campsite was still being thoroughly investigated and they felt it would be the best place to get some information. The entire park was empty, no cars were parked, aside from the few police vehicles.

Dean continued driving up the parks main road, figuring that he would continue on until they spotted where the site was. And it actually wasn't too hard for them to spot it. Coming up over a hill, they spotted several cop cars that were parked on the side of the road and they knew this was their spot.

Pulling over, Dean parked the Impala in its own spot and put the car in park. They were just barely walking towards the scene when one of the officers had already began to approach them, most likely to get them off the scene. Without a word, they pulled out their badges and showed them to him, to which he stopped immediately.

"The feds are already getting in on this?" He asked. "I thought Turner didn't want the feds to get involved."

Natalie casted a glance up at Dean, who was quick to save the conversation. "Well, turns out there was more help to be needed. How's the search on the scene going?"

The officer nodded for the three of them to follow as he led the way towards the campsite. "The site was found two days ago, as you may already know."

Sam lifted up the security tape, allowing everyone to go under first before following. "What was the condition of the site when it was found?"

"It looked decimated. The entire tent had been torn down and many of the victim's belongings were scattered around the campsite."

The officer finally stopped once they reached the location and most of the campers belongings had already been taken by the forensics team. The only thing that remained was the torn down tent and a few camping bags. Dean and Sam both moved towards the tent and began to carefully search the area.

Natalie moved towards the police officer. "What have you been able to gather from the campsite?"

The officer merely shrugged. "Not much. Evidence wise. We have managed to find fragments of clothing, most likely from the victims. We also found a cell phone. That has been sent down to see what might be on it."

Natalie nodded. "Do you or anybody have any idea as to what might have happened to these people?"

"The most that I can say is that it was an animal attack. But, we never have that problem in this park. And when there usually is an attack, it isn't as severe, no one goes missing."

"So..." Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "No concrete guesses as to what caused this."

"No one. Not even Turner knows."

Dean and Sam both turned back around to the officer and Natalie. "Is there any way that we might be able to take a look at what was on the phone you found?" Dean asked.

"You're going to have to talk with either Turner or Morris on that one. They're the lead investigators on this case. They'll most likely be able to help you."

"Thank you." Natalie offered as the officer walked away to converse with the others. Walking towards Dean and Sam, Natalie took a quick glance at the campsite. "So, what do you guys think?"

Sam tilted his head in thought. "I was starting to lean towards possible werewolf, but, this isn't normal activity for one."

"I'm thinking maybe wendigo." Dean offered his choice and Sam thought on it for a moment. Sam's expression lightened once he had taken the time to piece some of this together.

"Makes sense. It's pretty much almost like the wendigo case we solved back in Colorado. Or maybe just an unfortunate kidnapping."

Natalie pressed her tongue against her cheek and hummed out in her disagreement.

"Who would come out in the woods to kidnap three young women?" Dean finally asked.

Natalie raised her brows at Dean's question and even he was starting to think back on what he asked. "Anyone who is crazy enough to try it. But, look at the footprints." Natalie pointed at the several imprints that were in the dirt. "Those are smaller feet and they are leading into the woods. It's almost like, they were being chased."

"They were chased into the woods..." Dean repeated as he glanced over the footprints several times. "It looks like they were almost running in circles. Like they had no idea where to go."

Natalie and Sam both nodded, following Dean's explanation. "And then something must've really scared them..." Natalie started.

"And that set them off into the woods." Sam finished.

"You might be right Dean." Natalie admitted. "This could very much be a wendigo."

"And if there is one, there has to be some kind of structure that would be a suitable place for it to hideout." Sam added.

"Okay, well, let's not jump to conclusions too fast, just yet." Natalie tapped both of them on the shoulders and motioned towards the car. "The officer said that the phone they found was at the station. If they've already went through the memory, I think they may have something to help confirm it."

….

Two days. Two _long _days of going back and forth from the campsite to the station. Adam had made sure that his team were working nearly round the clock and they have managed to find only scant evidence. But, nothing was solid enough to give them any kind of leads as to where these three women were. If this was some kind of crude kidnapping, time was running out for them. However, Adam was having a hard time going with his cop instinct. He knew that this was completely out of the ordinary for his team. He has seen his fair share of strange cases in this town. It's no wonder he can immediately sense when something isn't right and that is what he's getting with this case.

Adam wanted very much to call Thomas' number. This case wasn't the same as the one he experienced over six years ago. This was completely different. He has no idea how to proceed with this and he was absolutely lost.

Walking into his office, he gently closed the door and sat down at his desk, seeing that a file was already placed there for him. More information on Nicole, Carly and Allison. They were intending on camping out there for only a week. After interviewing their families, they can rule out that these girls wouldn't run away. Just as he thought. Adam didn't think that those girls would've just up and run away.

Pulling the file towards him, Adam silently read through the few papers. A knock at the door halted his reading and he looked up as Caroline poked her head into the room.

"You got a minute?"

Adam tossed the folder onto his desk. "It seems no matter what I'm doing I always have to make time. How's the search going?"

Caroline entered the room and closed the door behind her. "Well. The men have scouted out the area. They did find some animal tracks, but they debunked them as being dog tracks. Possibly from campers from before who had dogs. Um, we were able to find a few strands of hair about 100 feet from the original site. Those are being sent to forensics to get the DNA match on them."

"That's it?" Adam asked. "Only a few strands of hair. No footprints or any indication of which direction they might've gone?"

"None. You have to remember it's all grass fields in those woods. If there are any footprints, it's going to take a while for the crew to find them."

Adam slowly dragged his hands down his face. "How far from the area has the team been searching?"

"They've expanded their search all the way to the hill. Where the closed off mine is. Do you think that they would be there?"

"I did make it clear to the officers to look as far as they can into that mine. But, most of it would be blocked off due to the collapsed. That entire place is a virtual death trap."

Caroline blew out a breath and nodded. "I don't know. I mean by the looks of it, those girls seemed completely terrified by whatever was there. It would make sense if they tried to hide out wherever they could."

Adam was quick to disagree. "Those footprints disappeared into the woods. We found small blood stain about one hundred feet from the campsite. If this was some kind of animal attack, they wouldn't be missing."

"Unless we're considering a kidnapping." Caroline added. "I mean I agree that they wouldn't run into the mine, most likely they wouldn't have made it that far. However, if they were kidnapped, they could be well over the state border by now, which means we'll probably have to send out a request to the FBI."

That didn't seem like something Adam wanted to do. He didn't verbally support Caroline's decision. Adam had his own idea as to what was going on here. Not that he had any idea as to what caused this, but, he couldn't shake this feeling that something else was at play.

"I just don't think that this was a real kidnapping."

Caroline hummed out a curious laugh. "Then what else could it have been. I mean these girls practically vanished into thin air. That seems a little impossible."

Adam frowned and shrugged. "Ah, well, you'd be surprised at some of the things that can happen in this town."

"I've heard about some of cases before I was transferred here. The big case about the whole deal with victims getting their hearts torn out." Caroline made a empathetic face for the victims. "Not exactly something you expect to hear."

Adam let out a strained breath at the memory, over six years ago that case took place and yet, it was still something that he was tense about. Caroline was even able to sense it.

"I'm guessing that case wasn't an easy one."

"Yeah." Adam exhaled. "It wasn't, it was, um, a real eye opener for me."

From the window in his office, Adam noticed three people walking up towards the main desk and pulled out their badges. From what he was able to observe, they were from the FBI and he couldn't help but think on how young they looked.

"Why are the FBI sending down their agents?"

Caroline gave him a confused look. "What?"

Adam nodded in the direction of the agents and Caroline followed his gaze. "I don't know." She finally answered. "Did you call for agents to come down?"

"No." Adam shook his head. "Did you?"

"Of course not." Caroline walked over to the door and opened it, leaving Adam in his office. Walking over to the main desk, the officer working at it noticed Caroline and she could see a small relieved look on his face.

"Agents, this is Detective Morris, she's one of the leading investigators for the case."

"Hello, agents." She politely greeted them. "What brings the three of you down here today?"

Dean offered a genuine smile as he placed his badge back into his pocket. "Well, we were given information about the disappearances at Nelson Park."

Caroline nodded at Dean and took a quick moment to assess the other agents. Narrowing her eyes slightly she eventually nodded. "Well, you'll probably want to talk with Detective Turner. Follow me."

Adam had tried to make himself look busy by looking back at the file, but, he looked up several times when Caroline was talking with the agents. When he realized that she was bringing them to see him, he straightened up in his seat.

"Hey, Turner." Caroline stood in the doorway to his office. "These agents need to talk with you about the disappearances."

Adam took a moment to take in the sight of these three agents, almost immediately Adam could recognize them. Well, he didn't know who they were personally, but he had a hunch that they weren't exactly FBI agents. Exhaling silently, Adam nodded for her to let them in. Closing the folder, Adam watched silently as the three agents took seats in front of him. Adam nodded for Caroline to close the door, which she did without saying a single word.

"So, you three are here about the disappearances at Nelson Park."

Dean nodded. "Yes. We were given the information and we were advised to take the trip down here to see what's going on."

Adam leaned back in his seat, lacing his fingers together and resting his hands on his stomach. "I don't think that we sent in an issue to the FBI to send any of their agents down here. Granted, I know it's been more than 24 hours."

"Well, since it has been two days, our advisers thought that getting involved would be best. We don't know whether the victims might have crossed into other states."

Adam nodded silently, taking in Sam's reasoning. "I will tell you three this, the likelihood that these three victims are in another state is very low."

"What makes you say that?" Natalie asked. "This park is public, anyone can go in and out."

"Yes, but, from the evidence we have found at the crime scenes, their footprints. All of them led into the woods and then stopped about 100 feet from the original site."

"Well, that doesn't necessarily mean that someone couldn't have been responsible for it. My partners and I were just there." Dean motioned at Sam and Natalie. "We noticed how vast that place is. And at night, I don't have any doubts that it's pitch black out there."

"We found a cell phone near the hillside, far into the woods. There's no way those three women could've found their way to that location with ease."

"So, you think that they are still around the area?" Sam asked.

"Call it my gut feeling. I believe those women are around here somewhere."

Natalie, Sam and Dean sat in silence, each of them conveying their thoughts through glances. Adam had mentioned a hillside, possibly around that area could be a prime location for a wendigo to hide. They would need to check the location first. For Adam, watching these three doing their little silent communication seemed to only spark his suspicion even more.

Dean finally cleared his throat and looked back over at Adam. "Has there ever been any...strange incidents that might have happened around that area? Or has anyone ever reported seeing anything...out of the ordinary?"

Adam narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned towards his desk. "You think that these cases are out of the ordinary?"

"Well, the idea of three people just practically vanishing without a trace seems a little odd to me. It could be something, completely different." Dean admitted.

That was it. Adam finally got his answer and of course, he was right. "Or." Adam pressed. "Maybe you three have an idea as to what's going or what might have caused this."

Sam, Dean and Natalie shared confused glances with each other.

"You aren't really FBI agents." Adam offered with great ease and a confidence that was just seeping out from his tone. But, it wasn't condescending. There was a familiarity behind it. That seemed to spark something in the three of them. Adam could see the surprised looks on their faces and their demeanors immediately tensed. "I'm right aren't I? You aren't from the FBI. You're hunters...aren't you?"

_Shit. _Natalie was surprised, but she couldn't help the feeling of being a little, impressed? The three of them have been very lucky to not have their FBI façade called out by other officers. Although, there was that one time when Jody was able to call them out, but that was only because she recognized Bobby's voice. They were in a completely different town, none of them have been here before. And now this detective, who has no idea who they are, is suddenly able to detect that they are hunters. What the hell?

Sam hesitantly looked over at Dean and Natalie, who were wearing the appropriate shocked looks on their faces. And Adam, he was just merely waiting for them to say something. Sam didn't know whether they were fully screwed or if this guy was going to play along.

Swallowing a few times, Sam finally was able to put together his thoughts. "How do you know about hunters?"

Adam pursed his lips into a half smile and tapped his fingers against his desk. "You three might be surprised to learn that you aren't the first group of hunters I've encountered. There have been about four separate occasions where I've had to deal with them."

"So, you know about...all of it."

"That there are such things as monsters and ghosts...yeah, I know. The whole package."

Dean finally was able to gather himself and in his own shock, like Natalie, he was kind of impressed. "If you don't mind this question, how exactly were you able to tell?"

"It's happened the same way. Something happens in this town, a murder or a missing person and each of those times, it was different. Something about it wasn't right. And then, the next day or so, a few FBI agents come strolling through those doors. I knew it the minute I saw you three. Not to mention the fact that they asked me the same kind of questions you just did." Adam finished by pointing at Dean.

Natalie gave a sheepish smile. "So, what exactly is going to happen now?"

"What?" Adam asked and then gave the three of them a curious look. "You think I'm gonna announce it?"

Adam stood up from his chair, walked around his desk and made it seem like he was going towards his door. That prompted the three of them to internally panic. Instead, Adam walked over to his office windows and pulled down the blinds.

"You three are here because you think something is going on." Adam finished with the blinds and quickly sat back down at his desk. "You're here to help. So, I'll help in any way that I can."

That didn't really seem to make the three hunters feel entirely secure. They simply just stared at Adam, wringling with their own mind as to whether they should totally trust him. Adam caught onto it pretty quickly. All of the other hunters acted the same way.

"You can trust me. The first time I met a hunter was about six years ago. People were getting butchered, hearts ripped out, limbs detached. The hunter that I met was Thomas Collins, maybe you three have met him at one point."

Adam was going to go on with his reassurance, but paused when he saw the looks on all three of their faces. Particularly the young woman, who was staring at him with the biggest eyes. It was the first time that Adam was caught a little off guard. He had no idea what he said that would generate this kind of silent reaction.

"What did you just say?" Natalie finally asked.

Natalie's question caught Adam off guard and for a split second, he couldn't exactly pin point that she was questioning the name that had left his mouth. "Pardon?" Adam asked, looking for some clarification.

"That name."

Adam looked down, momentarily, in thought and then cautiously looked back up at her. "Thomas Collins."

Natalie felt a breath hitch in her throat. "How do you know Thomas Collins?"

Adam narrowed his eyes at her. Clearly, that name meant something to her, judging by her reaction. "How do you know him?"

Natalie swallowed. It had been a while since she had to talk about her father to, well, anyone really. Every time she had to bring him up, doesn't matter how long it's been, it was always a painful subject.

"He's my dad."

Her voice was so quiet, so small, and it was something that Adam didn't expect to hear. Granted, he knew that Thomas had a daughter, but he never actually got to meet her. Adam didn't even know her name. And now, here he was, sitting in front of her. He couldn't help, but feel like it was coming full circle.

"You're his daughter." He repeated.

Natalie nodded silently. "How do you know my dad?"

"He saved my life. Back on the first case I met him. Saved me from becoming dinner."

There was nothing that Natalie could say, her silence would have to do. She couldn't shake off this weird feeling of taking on a case that involves a man who knew her father. Sam reached for her hand, which was hanging limply down her side and took a firm hold of it.

Natalie wasn't saying anything else and by the look of it, she couldn't even begin to articulate some other question for him. Adam then decided to tread forward. "Listen. I don't want anyone from my team getting hurt. So, if you have any idea as to what this thing is, I need to know."

"Okay. Can you just tell us all of the evidence you found at the campsite?" Dean asked.

"We found some blood, belonging to one of the victims and a cell phone. It belonged to Carly Johnson and we had it sent for analysis. She took photos of the trip and I was just looking through them." Adam turned towards his computer and began to scroll through the files. "And I found something."

Turning the computer screen around, Natalie, Sam and Dean were staring at a slightly blurry photo of a woman, sitting in a tent. Adam gave them time to fully view the image, hoping they would see what caught his eye. Sam was the first one to spot it and he leaned towards the screen.

"Right there." He pointed at the middle of the screen at a shadow that was outside of the tent. Turning to Dean, he gave a quick tilt of the head. "Dean. I'm thinking you might be right on this one."

"A wendigo"

Sam nodded in clarification.

"What's a wendigo?" Adam asked after having fully appreciated how fast they were able to, at least, name something that might be it.

Dean looked behind him at the closed door, ensuring that no one would be able to hear them. "Uh. A wendigo is a creature that was once human, but when they resort to cannibalism, they turn into these creatures."

Adam nodded. "So, a human who resorted to cannibalism. That means someone must've been trapped somewhere or lost."

"Do you happen to have a mine close by the park?" Sam asked.

Adam thought for a moment and then ran his hand through his hair. "There is one. It's a couple miles away from the public area designated in the park. But, it's been closed for nearly fifty years."

"Why did it close?"

"Part of the mine collapsed and...one of the workers were never found." Adam had pieced it together. "Alright, so, are you for sure that we're dealing with a wendigo?

Dean nodded. "I would say that we are fairly certain that this is what we are dealing with."

"Okay, so how do we stop the thing?"

The three hunters gave Adam confused looks. "We?" Sam asked.

However, Adam didn't skip a beat. "Yeah, we."

Dean pointed between him, Sam and Natalie. "No, we're going to take care of this. But, you need to stay out of it."

"What makes you think I will? That mine has been sealed off for over fifty years. I'm going with you to make sure that this gets handled well."

"What, you don't trust letting us hunters go alone?"

"Every single time they've arrived, I've gone with them. I'm not going to let you three be an exception."

Adam didn't leave any room for them to argue. Dean was itching to keep on persuading him that he wasn't going with them. However, he didn't know this guy, he might even switch his views completely and rat them out. Looking over at Sam, Dean was hoping to find some kind of argument brewing from his little brother, but there was nothing.

Dean finally had to find his resolve. "Fine. You can come with us."

"Okay. Then how to we kill the thing?" Adam asked.

"Fire. Just blaze up the thing and that usually does the trick." Dean answered. "But, the sun's still up. They only hunt at night. So, we'll need to get ready."

* * *

Caroline blinked several times, feeling her lids drooping with heaviness. She hadn't been able to get much sleep for the past few days. That always was the case with her when something happened. She was always a restless person. She had decided to stay in late at her office, it was around 9:30 and most of the people had already gone home. Adam had left fairly early and she had tried calling him several times, but he never answered. Typical.

Moving to her computer, Caroline pulled up the images from the cell phone that were forwarded to her by Adam. The pictures were normal. The only thing that Caroline got from them were that the young women were having a great time, which seemed to weigh heavy on the situation. They needed to find out where they were. Caroline had already experienced a failed case, a young girl went missing and they never found her. They didn't even find the person responsible. For all Caroline knew, that case was still open. And it weighed a heavy burden on her conscious. She was not going to let these families down, not this time.

Since nearly all of the pictures looked normal, Caroline would occasionally glance down at her notes. Looking back up, Caroline immediately stopped on one picture and leaned in closer towards the screen. It was a picture of Nicole that was taken inside the tent and it was already night out. The tent was dimly lit by the fire they had set up and in the background, Caroline could make out the faint outline of something or someone standing outside of their tent.

"What the hell?" Caroline zoomed in on the picture, but it was too blurry to make out a full shape. It was a person, that she knew for sure. She thought about whether Adam had been able to see the image yet. Picking up the phone from her desk, Caroline went to dial out his number when one of the remaining officers walked over to her desk.

"Hey, Morris."

Caroline reluctantly placed the phone down. "Hey Rick, what's wrong?"

"The team down at the park have found nothing. They've been scouting the area for hours. The team has regrouped, but they are not sure how you want to proceed with the search."

Caroline glanced back down at the computer screen and licked at her dry lips. "Tell them to go home. There's not much more we can do for tonight."

"Alright." Rick gave a singular tap against her desk as he turned to go and make the call. Only to stop when Caroline spoke up.

"Hey Rick? Did any of our officers go and check out the mine?"

"Yeah, actually, a few of the guys checked it out. But, they were only able to get about a mile into the thing. That place is a damn trap. They didn't get to venture too far. You know that all of the hallways are blocked."

Caroline simmered on his words and then finally nodded. "Okay. Thanks." She wasn't satisfied. There was something about that mine. Everyone always says that it's a death trap since the collapse. But, no one has ever actually ventured very far into it. Who knows how stable or unstable that place actually is. That combined with the fact that they found Carly's cell phone near the path that leads to the opening of the mine. It all seemed to piece together a little too easily for Caroline to brush aside.

She moved quickly, shutting off her computer monitor, grabbed her cellphone, her gun, flashlight and her car keys. This was probably a really stupid idea she was beginning to play out. If no one else was going to risk checking through that mine, then she will. She didn't bother to tell Rick where she was going and she didn't make a call to Adam. This was something she was going to do on her own. It was just going to be a quick look around and hopefully it will help put her mind at ease.

The ride to the park went by quickly, since she has driven to this place several times over the past few days. Luckily, all of the cops had left the park, leaving Caroline free range and no chance of running into any of them. Parking her car near the main lot, she got out and turned on her flashlight. Then she began the walk towards the mine. She had to admit, walking alone in the middle of the woods in complete darkness, with nothing but a flashlight, can be a little nerve wracking. Caroline was never really a big fan of the woods anyway. Add that into this creepy atmosphere, it perfectly blends to make her nerves slowly increase. Finally reaching the hill's path, Caroline took careful steps along the soggy path, making sure she didn't slip. Reaching the top, her light shined on the entryway of the mine.

_Now this is beyond creepy. _Caroline thought once she entered the mine. The place offered a weird chill that hit her hard and the wind from outside was channeling through the tunnel, creating a distinct whistling type noise. It didn't take long before she finally reached where the tunnel track lines began. The miners would use it to transport carts full of coal or other materials throughout the mine. Soon the main tunnel branched off towards the left, that led into two separate sections and those tunnels continued on for god knows how long. Caroline crossed over onto the left side, making sure that the wooden platform that had been placed there was still strong enough to hold her weight, but she could tell that it was a little weak. Making it across, Caroline halted in her steps at the sounds of something...scattering? It sounded like little claws against the ground, almost like a rat was running around.

At first, that is what she thought it was. But, when she began to walk down one of the tunnels, which she picked by random, the noise seemed to be following her. She turned around, light bouncing off of the dirt walls and there was nothing. The noise resumed, this time, coming from behind her, down the tunnel she was walking in. As she turned back around, something quickly crossed the beam of her flashlight. She didn't get to see the thing for too long, but the screech that came after it caused her blood to go cold. Without any regard, Caroline turned back around and began to run out of the mine. As she made it out of the mine, Caroline pulled out her phone and quickly dialed out Adam's number

...

Adam placed his jacket on and fixed the collar. He was about to head out to the park in about ten minutes, he was just waiting for either Sam, Dean or Natalie to call him. He had taken a few hours to talk with them, finally coerced them into telling him their actual names. Adam had to admit, they were decent hunters, not like the ones he had met before. Looking down at his phone, Adam noticed that he had three missed calls from Caroline, all from earlier this afternoon. He really had a bad habit of not answering her calls most of the time. Just as he was about to dial out her number, a call came in and it was from Caroline.

"Speaking of the devil." Adam commented as he answered the call and placed the phone up to his ear. "You miss me that much Morris?"

Heavy panting came from the other end and the sound of panicked footsteps mixed in with it. There were no words, it was just a constant heavy breathing.

"Morris? You there?" Adam tried again.

_"Turner!"_ Caroline called into the phone. _"Turner! I made a really bad mistake!" _

Adam pinched at the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Ah hell, Morris what did you do now?"

_"I..."_ Caroline's voice was cut off by a small yelp, she had fallen in the process of running, but Adam could hear the footsteps and heavy breathing start back up. _"I came down to the mine! Thinking I should take a look around!"_

Adam stood in silence, for only a brief second. "You did what?!"

_"I went to the mine!"_ Caroline yelled out.

"Oh for god sake! Morris what the hell are you doing there?" Adam called out. "Our men already searched the place and said that they found nothing!"

_"Well you know me! There was something about that mine that was just poking at me!"_ Caroline's voice seem to break at certain points, telling Adam that her running was starting to go a little more rough.

"Well, why are you running? What's going on?"

_"Something is...oh god. Something is chasing after me!" _

Adam paused, his eyes fixing into a dead stare at the wall. Something was chasing her. "Well, what did it look like?"

_"I don't know! I only saw it for a brief second and then it made this god awful screech! I saw it in the mine and then I just took off!" _

"Okay, Morris I need you to listen to me. I'll be there soon alright just try and-" Adam was cut off by the other end going quiet. He could no longer her breathing or her footsteps. "Morris? Are you there? Morris?"

Adam ended the call and dialed out her number again, this time all he got was just a constant ringing. "Dammit!" Adam dialed out another number and placed the phone up to his ear.

_"Yeah?"_ Dean's voice came through.

"We need to leave now." Adam was already gathering up his supplies. A flare gun, a regular gun, and a flashlight.

_"Why, what's going on?" _

"My partner went up to the mine by herself and I think the thing has her."

_"Why do you think that?"_

"Because she just called me and said that something was chasing her and now she's not answering my calls." Adam grabbed his car keys and was already out the door. "We need to get there now!"

_"Alright we'll meet you there." _

Adam hung up the phone and jumped into his car, turned on the ignition and sped out of his driveway. Caroline has done this to him on several occasions. Always going off on her own when she shouldn't. He always told her that she was going to kill him with stress. She always brushed it off as him joking, even when Adam wasn't someone who had a decent sense of humor. Or at least that's what all of his colleagues thought. He always had this serious look to him and he hardly ever smiled or had a good mood. Adam had his reasons for acting the way he does. But, when it came to his partner, Adam was always determined she never tried to do something stupid. This just proves that he can't always be there.

* * *

Natalie kept her light in front of her, following Sam, Dean and Adam as they made their way towards the hillside. Halfway there, they had found Caroline's cell phone, but no sign of her. As they continued on, Adam informed them on what Caroline was able to tell him in their short phone conversation, she was in the mine and saw the thing before bolting out. Now, Dean, Sam and Natalie were convinced that this was a wendigo. They ran up the pathway and picked up their pace as they entered the mine. They didn't know exactly where Caroline was when she saw the creature, but when they came to the same location she did, they thought it would be best to take a quick look there.

Sam and Dean were the only ones to make it across the platform when the four of them heard cries. Cries for help and it sounded just like Caroline. It was coming from farther down the main tunnel and Adam didn't hesitate before taking off.

"No wait!" Natalie whispered heatedly. Without thinking, Natalie took off after him and she could hear Dean and Sam's whispering protests. Natalie tried her best to keep up with him, but she was still able to keep him in sight, making it easier to follow him. They both finally came to a larger section of the mine. Wooden beams and platforms were placed down to create an easier surface to walk on, for the miners. They both took a step onto the wooden platform when the structure gave way under them and they both fell. Natalie was able to grasp onto a broken section of the wooden plank and tried grabbing for Adam only to have him slip through her gasp and down the hole.

"Nad!"

Natalie brought her other hand up and tried to keep a firm grasp on the wood. "Sam!" Natalie called out and looked up, eventually seeing Sam and Dean looking down at her. Sam quickly reached down for her arm and she grasp his arm with her other.

"Wait! Sam, just, let me go."

Sam gave Natalie a look. "Are you crazy? No, I'm not letting you go!"

"This thing is not going to hold both of us." Natalie was proven right. The platform began to bend and it was going to break away from what it was attached to. "Turner fell down. I need to go find him."

Sam gave a quick shake of his head. "No. I'm not gonna-"

The plank suddenly snapped and Sam lost his grip on Natalie's arm. She felt her body fall and then made impact on soft dirt. Natalie could see her flashlight lying a few feet in front of her and she quickly crawled over to pick it up. As she got to her feet, Natalie saw Adam just starting to get back on his feet and breathed a relieved sigh, at least he wasn't injured.

"Nad!" Sam and Dean's voice called out in unison and she shined her light up at them.

"I'm alright. Turner's fine." Natalie quickly looked over at Adam. "You are fine, right? No pain or anything."

Adam gave a weak wave at her concern. "I'm fine."

Natalie nodded and then looked back up at Sam and Dean, who looked like they were trying to make their way down to them. "Hey! Wait, what are you two doing?"

"We're coming down there." Dean answered, making it seem like the answer should've been obvious to her.

"No." Natalie quickly answered. "We're gonna need someone to stay up there to pull us out. You two just stay there, Turner and I will find Caroline and the women."

"I don't like that plan Nad." Dean offered genuinely.

"Sam." Natalie avoided Dean's reluctant reply. "Toss down the bottle." Natalie reached her hands out and caught the bottle that Sam had tossed down. "I'm gonna try and molotov this bitch. Okay. So, just wait there. We'll be fine."

Natalie placed the small bottle into her coat pocket and then nodded at Adam. "You ready, Turner."

"I'm not sure if I will ever be ready, but, let's get going."

They only had one way to go and they slowly took their time walking down another tunnel. Even though they were hunting down a wendigo, Natalie couldn't shake this feeling of awkwardness. She was trying to find these people and kill this creature with a cop. Not Dean or Sam who were hunters, but a cop. Plus, he was someone she had only just met a few hours ago. Now she was supposed to find a way for both of them to work on this together. Hopefully, it would just fall into sync once things started happening. But, everytime she looked at him, Natalie couldn't help but feel there was a sense of familiarity. This man knew her father, knew what he did for a living and he knew about _her. _Natalie knew that this sounded ridiculous, but she felt a little closer to her dad, just by standing next to this man.

"I know this is probably an inappropriate time to ask this, but, what did you think of my father?" Natalie couldn't help herself. She needed to have some kind of decent conversation with this guy if she was going to feel any sort of ease.

Adam glanced over at her, brows faintly creased together. "You're asking me this now?"

"Well, I'm sorry, but, I don't feel too comfortable with this pairing. No offense."

Adam made a hum noise. "None taken. But, why do you want to know what I thought about your father?"

Natalie merely shrugged. "He never talked about the people that he met on jobs. And I never thought that my dad would be buddy-buddy with some cop."

"Well, now wait a minute." Adam spoke up. "We weren't exactly buddy-buddy. We respected one another."

"I guess that's a good thing. Never thought that my dad would make good acquaintance with a cop." Natalie added.

"I'll tell you what, when we get out of this we can talk about your father, but right now, we need to focus."

Natalie gave her head a tilt in compliance. "Fine."

...

Caroline finally felt herself regain consciousness. But, she felt like her head was being weighed down and she had a terrible headache. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by only darkness. As she allowed her eyes to adjust, Caroline began to move around and realized that she was being hung, by her wrists. _Oh that's just perfect. _She had no way of reaching for the small pocket knife in her jacket. Instead, she tried pulling at her bonds, seeing if there was any way of working them loose.

Down the tunnel, Caroline could hear voices, they were quiet, but she could make out that it was a man and a woman. She could see beams of light come around the corner and by instinct she called out Adam's name. Both of the figures stopped and shined their lights right in her face.

"Turner it's me." Caroline whispered.

Adam and Natalie made a brisk walk over to Caroline and Natalie quickly cut the bonds around her wrists. As Adam assessed over Caroline for any injury, Natalie walked by them and saw three other people hanging by their wrists.

"Hey." Natalie looked back at Caroline and Adam. "I think I found your missing people." Natalie went to cut the bonds from one of them and it gently woke her up. "Hey, it's alright, we're here to help you." Natalie gently assured her.

"We need to hurry up and get these girls out of here."

Adam and Caroline quickly cut down the other girls, effectively getting them to wake up. It would make it that much easier to get them out of here. They made their back towards where Adam and Natalie had come from. One of the girls had a leg injury and could hardly walk on it, prompting Adam to carry her. Natalie eventually asked Adam for his flare gun, which she had to retrieve from his beltline. A very awkward situation for both of them. They were barely halfway down the tunnel when a loud screech made all of them stop and look back. Natalie angled her head towards the end and could hear impending footsteps coming towards them.

"Move." Natalie's tone was quiet, but stern. However, it didn't seem to pass the message onto the other people. Turning to them, she began to nudge them forward. "Move! Run!"

That finally got through to them. Caroline ushered Adam to go first and then the two girls before her and Natalie broke out into a run. Natalie took a glance behind her, allowing her to see the form of a shadow pass quickly in front of her vision. "Keep running!" She called out to the group and slowly stopped.

Caroline stopped as well and grabbed hold of Natalie's arm. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'll be a distraction. It'll give you guys time to get those girls out of here."

"Are you insane? I'm not about to just let you stay behind."

"Go!" Natalie demanded, a little too harsh for her taste. But, she didn't want Caroline here anymore. Plus, Adam won't be able to handle those three women on his own. Natalie made it final by pulling her arm out of Caroline's grasp and slowly walked back down the tunnel, leaving Caroline no choice, but to continue with follow Adam.

It didn't take Natalie very long to realize that she no longer heard anything coming from this side of the tunnel. Before, she could hear the thing making its way towards them, now...it was silent. She didn't like that. She was making her way back towards where they had found Caroline and the three girls. There was no way the thing would be back there. It was coming after them. Right?

Natalie felt a sudden tug on the back of her jacket and her back made a harsh, quick impact with the ground. And she could see the thing hovering over her, eliciting a wet growl. Natalie tried to get up quickly when the creature grabbed onto her leg and started dragging her. Natalie twisted her body in order to try and reach for the flare gun, but missed it.

"Natalie!"

Adam's voice came channeling down the tunnel, which in turn, made the wendigo pick up its pace. Natalie tried kicking her legs from its grasp, which only annoyed the creature. The wendigo suddenly stopped and grabbed the front of her jacket when gunshots were fired and Natalie could hear it hitting the creature, not creating any damage, but it was a distraction. That's what Adam was hoping for.

The wendigo dropped its hold on Natalie and charged after Adam. That gave Natalie enough time. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the small bottle. Pulling out the cap, Natalie quite shoved the piece of cloth into the neck of the bottle. When she looked up quickly, Natalie saw that Adam took a hit from the creature and she pulled out the matches from her pocket. Striking a few of them, she held it to the cloth until it finally caught fire. Standing up, Natalie took a quick second to mark down her target and then raised her arm.

_This is probably a really bad idea. _Natalie thought as she sucked in a breath. "Hey!" She called out, garnering the creature's attention. She waited for Adam to move a good distance away and then threw the bottle. Fire sparked everywhere, on the walls of the tunnel and on the ground. But, she made her target. The wendigo thrashed as the fire engulfed its body as it finally diminished into nothing. Natalie quickly made her way over to Adam, after getting by bits of the fire that remained on the soil, creating a good source of light.

"You got a pretty good injury on the head there." Natalie was trying to make it light. There was a decent about of blood streaming down his face.

"You're just trying to keep things light." He commented as he pressed his hand against his head and pulled away, seeing blood covering his palm.

"Okay, come on." Natalie pulled Adam up onto his feet. "Let's get out of here." She could feel her throat starting to itch from the smoke that was forming in the tunnel.

Natalie had to struggle with helping Adam, for one he was much more taller than her, like Dean and Sam. But, he was doing a good job with trying to keep himself walking, to put some of the weight off of her. Natalie had to keep him talking though. By the way he sounded, Natalie knew he was about to pass out.

"Don't you pass out on me." Natalie tried to hoist him up several times to jolt him back awake. "I can't carry you all the way back."

"I'm resilient." Adam weakly fought back. "I've been through worse."

"Everyone always says that."

They finally made it back to where they had fallen through. "Sam!" Natalie called out as she looked up. Sam and Dean were still sitting near the opening. "Hey! You need to get him up first."

Sam dropped down an end of a rope that he gone back to get from the car after Natalie and Adam had gone to find Caroline. Natalie quickly tied it around Adam's waist, noting that he was slightly more aware now. Natalie watched silently as Adam climbed up the side of the wall, while Sam and Dean were pulling the rope. Once Adam was out, Sam quickly got he rope untied and sent it back down to.

Natalie grabbed it, tied the rope around her waist and began to climb up. Her hand hooked onto the broken wooden platform and used it to pull herself out. Sam grabbed onto her arm and gently pulled her all the way out.

"You okay?" Sam asked, taking a quick look at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did the girls get out?"

"Yeah, Caroline also managed to get a hold of the police."

Natalie groaned at the tightness she started to feel in her back. "We're gonna have to come up with some total bull story to tell them."

"We'll figure that out later." Sam could hear Natalie suck in a quick breath and he sat her up gently. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yes. It's just my back that's starting to kill me." Natalie rested her head against his shoulder and Sam could feel her body shake from her laughing. "You know it's kinda funny, I only just now encountered by first wendigo."

Sam gave Natalie a slightly amused look. "How is that funny?"

"I honestly have no idea. I think the smoke from the fire is starting to get to my head."

Sam moved up on his feet and helped Natalie get back up on hers. "Come on."

* * *

The group didn't have to wait long for the police and ambulances to arrive. Several officers had to go back into the mine to perform their own sweep and to make sure that the fire didn't get to crazy. Caroline informed the officers about what had happened and she made up a pretty good story. She didn't stay long, since she followed the ambulance Adam was in all the way to the hospital. And that made Natalie a little nervous. He had a pretty nasty head wound, but, she didn't think that it was that serious. However, she wasn't a doctor, so she isn't the best person to make a call like that. Sam, Dean and Natalie made sure that the three girls were taken care off and after receiving their many thanks, they decided to head back to the motel. But, Natalie asked Dean to drop her off at the hospital, there was something that they needed to talk about, which confused both Sam and Dean, but he complied regardless.

After they arrived at the hospital, Natalie convinced Dean to head back to the motel with Sam. She would be just fine with walking back, it wasn't that long of a walk anyway. It didn't take much convincing on Natalie's part. Dean was willing to give her this one, without putting up too much of a fight. When Natalie made it into the hospital she had this sudden chill that washed over her. Thinking back on what happened at the hospital back in Sioux Falls, with the Leviathan. It seemed to put her on edge because those things could literally be anywhere. Swallowing her own paranoia, Natalie asked the nurse at the front desk what room Adam was in, and even though the nurse was reluctant, she finally told Natalie the room number, sending Natalie on her way.

Knocking on the door, Natalie waited for her the confirmation for her to come in. When she did, Natalie opened the door and slowly walked in. Adam was lying in the hospital bed, with Caroline sitting next to him. It was easy to see that they weren't expecting to see her.

"Hi." Natalie timidly greeted. "I hope this is alright. If not, I mean I can leave-"

"No, it's fine." Adam responded.

Natalie nodded and looked over at Caroline. "And how are you doing?"

"Honestly, I am not too sure. It's been one hell of a night, but, I will say thank you. For helping. Adam just told me everything, so, we owe everything to you and your friends."

Natalie lightly shrugged off Caroline's statement. "You really don't have to thank us. It's what we do."

"Okay. I get the sense that you two need to talk about something, so, I'm gonna go and finish up the files for this case." Caroline looked at Adam. "Please, just let the doctors do their job. No discharging yourself against their advice. Alright?"

"Yes. Yes, alright Morris."

Caroline smiled faintly at Adam's words. Caroline gave Natalie a smile and a small squeeze on the shoulder before leaving the room. "What's going on?" Natalie asked. "I mean I knew you had a nasty head injury, but, I didn't think it was that serious."

"Yeah. Um, I'm not exactly...the most healthiest person in the world. I've got my own medical problems."

Natalie raised her brows at this. "Oh. How long has it been going on?"

Adam made a groan as he sifted through his memory. "I'd say maybe a few years."

Natalie nodded and went to take a seat next to the hospital bed. "Are you sure that doing this job is a good thing for you?"

"Nah. I have medication that I take for it. It's just sometimes I have some kind of relapse. Nothing too serious. They just want to keep me overnight to make sure the smoke didn't do anything."

"I still don't think that a department would let someone like you take on being a detective." Natalie added.

"Whose to say they know everything that goes on with me?" Adam raised a brow at Natalie, who only nodded her head. "I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone else about my condition."

"Your secret is safe with me."

Adam hummed. He looked over at Natalie and his eyes roamed over her face, dissecting her features. "Has anyone ever told you, that you look just like your dad?"

Natalie was caught off guard, her lips parted slightly and her brows raised. "Um. No not really. People say I look more like my mom than him."

Adam's brow creased as he hummed out his disagreement. "No. I see a lot of your father in you. Of course, that might also due to the fact that I've never met your mother."

"How well did you know my dad?" Natalie asked. "I mean I know you met him on one of his jobs, but, you seem to act like you really knew him."

"Well, he came to town more than once. That was because I called him. He was the only hunter I really trusted and he told me that if anything weird was going on...to call him."

"How many times?"

"Probably four or five times."

Natalie had been watching his behavior as he spoke about her father and she noticed that he seemed so at ease. It told her that he possibly has no idea as to what happened to him. That would make sense. If he knew that her dad was dead he would've offered some kind of condolence. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"About, six years ago. He came rolling through town, helped me on another case. We talked for a few hours after and then he left. After that...the town went pretty quiet. A few hunters came here and there, but, he never did." Adam looked over at Natalie. "How is he by the way?"

_There's the question. _Natalie pursed her lips together and was hesitating. It had been quite a while since she had to talk about her dad like this. Each time, it was painful to bring up. "He, uh...he...passed away about four years ago."

Adam's already stern expression turned grim. Natalie could already see the empathy seeping from his eyes and the way his body relax. Adam couldn't form words. They both just sat in silence, waiting to see if one of them would say something. Adam literally had no idea. He thought that Thomas had simply gotten caught up in other things. He didn't expect to see him every single time. But, this wasn't the reasoning he was expecting to hear.

"I'm sorry." He finally offered. "I literally had no idea."

"I didn't think you would."

"Was it the job that got him?"

Natalie inhaled a deep breath. "You could say that. It was the life...and a little more than that."

"That's a real loss. He was a good man, your dad. Very honest and humble too. All of the other hunters I've met were a little beaten around the edges, still fairly decent."

"Yeah, my dad had a way of keeping up a good persona. That's just who he was."

"Did your family take it well?"

Natalie let out a small laugh. "No. It, uh, messed everything up. It literally, almost tore my family apart. Well, it actually did." Natalie quickly shook her head. "It's just a real complicated story and not one I am too keen on retelling."

"Well, I'm not going to ask you to do that."

Natalie nodded in relief.

"But, if it makes you feel any better, your dad did love you. From the few times he talked about you, he was proud to be your father."

"He always told me that." That was one thing that Thomas was always determined to tell his children every single time. Whether it was over the phone or when he was home and it didn't matter how many times he said it, Thomas always vouched to his kids how proud he was of them. That being their dad was the best thing to happen to him. He knew that his absence was a huge factor in their household. He was gone constantly. Reassuring his kids that he loved them and was proud of them was his way of helping to bind up the rift. And it worked. Despite leaving for two – three months at a time, he always maintained a close relationship with his kids.

"So, how do you think your partner is going to be able to handle all of this new information?" Natalie decided to bring up something that could possibly lighten the mood.

"Caroline is resilient. If she had not gone down to the mine, she wouldn't have believed it herself. She's probably going to stay away from woods for a some time though."

Natalie let out a genuine laugh. "I don't blame her. That was my first time confronting a wendigo."

"You were a rookie when it came to that thing?" Adam asked, feigning fake concern at the thought that he was partnered with someone who had never encountered that thing before.

"I think I did alright. So did you."

"Yeah, this is proof." Adam gave a quick motion at the sewed up wound on his head. "So, I'm guessing you and the Winchesters are going to be leaving town soon."

"Probably either tonight or early tomorrow."

"Then I'll say my gratitude. Thank you for helping."

Natalie smiled. "Like I said before, you don't need to thank us. And I'll offer the same thing my dad did. You have my number. If anything ever comes up, you can give me a call."

"I'm going to hold you to that. You better come through with it." Adam teased.

"I always do."

...

Natalie walked across the motel parking lot and jogged up to the motel room door. As she pulled out her key, she heard a commotion in progress coming from the room. It wasn't until she heard Dean and Sam struggling, then she slid the key in and hastily threw open the door. Just in time to see Dean slice off the head of a guy. Natalie stood in the doorway, mouth wide open as she stared at the headless body on the ground. Looking back up at Sam and Dean, she could see that they were still slightly flustered from their fight.

Natalie stepped into the room and quickly slammed the door. "What the hell happened? Why is there a headless guy on the ground?"

Dean pointed at the body with his machete. "That is no guy."

Natalie gave Dean a look and pointed down at the body. "What do you mean?"

"It's a Leviathan."

"How the hell did a Leviathan find you?"

Dean raised his arms. "You think I know?"

Natalie stepped around the body and went to stand next to Dean, the three of them continued to stare at the thing. "What are we gonna do with this headless Leviathan?"

Dean cinched his mouth to the side and then his face lightened. "We take it to Bobby's." Dean saw the looks on Sam and Natalie's faces."Look. We have an actual Leviathan. If we bring it to Bobby's, we'll be able to see what this thing can take and what its weaknesses are."

"Yeah, but, we have to ride with this thing in the Impala." Natalie added.

"Then we'll just have to suck it up."

Natalie gave Dean a deadpanned look. "I'm gonna have to sit with this thing...won't I?"

Dean merely shrugged his shoulder as he went about to gather up his things. "Great." Natalie said. "I'm gonna have to share a seat with a Leviathan."

* * *

**So, how did you all like it? Don't forget to check out my tumblr and say Hi if you want! Until next time!**


	9. Go Where I Send Thee

_A/N: Hey! So an update that didn't take me over a month to put up! I am actually glad that it didn't take me that long to get this next chapter up. This is another original case and someone else returns in this chapter. Also, just to ensure this is known, the case in this chapter is inspired by an episode of Sleepy Hollow. Now let's get on with the chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

Caden casually paced back and forth, hand secured under his chin in contemplation. He had made a mistake. Well, it wasn't a mistake in his eyes. But, according to Sarah, it was possibly the worst thing he could have done.

"Tell me again." Sarah said, she needed some more clarification. "What exactly did you tell them?"

Caden resumed his pacing. "I said that I wasn't going with their plan anymore."

That's what she was hoping not to hear again. Sarah allowed her head to hang down. "I am sure that they didn't take that too well."

No response from Caden.

"Why did you do it? I thought that we were all on the same page."

Caden paused and looked at Sarah. "I thought I was too. But, then they told me exactly what they planned on doing to her."

"But, that's if she doesn't cooperate, right? I mean that's what you just told me."

However, Caden wasn't hearing none of it. "This is Natalie that we're talking about, Sarah. I know for a fact that she won't agree to this."

"She has you. She trusts you, right? As long as that is tangible, it should be fine. So, what now you're backing out all because you're loyal to her?"

Caden calmly surrendered to Sarah's question with a small shoulder raise. "What if I am? Natalie, she's a good person and someone who I trust, completely. And she's loyal. All I've been doing is going behind her back."

Sarah let out a vain, silent scoff.

"I told you, what the angels we're going to do to her. And I don't care if that's their plan for when she doesn't cooperate. I know our kind, Sarah. We're absolutely vicious with how we do things. You can't stand there and tell me that you're completely okay with their plan. It will breakNatalie, piece by piece."

If Sarah were to tell Caden that she was completely fine with it, she would be lying to him and herself. It was quite clear that Sarah wasn't Natalie's biggest fan in the beginning, however, Sarah was able to see, from the sidelines, what human beings were capable of. During the power struggle between Raphael and Castiel, Sarah found herself caught in the middle. She was so loyal. How could she pick one brother over the other? However, being some of the youngest angels, Sarah and Caden were always a duo. And because of this, she followed Caden with his decision to side with Castiel. Sarah was exposed to Castiel's appreciation for humans and she could see the good that they can achieve, when they're not ripping each other's throats out. Sarah was skeptical about Natalie at first, but she has seen everything this young woman has done, some of it was questionable, but a majority of it was good. She was flawed, like every single human being on this earth. And it has taken hearing Castiel's wisdom and witnessing Caden's loyalty to realize that there is something about humans that is still pure.

"I'm not sure." Sarah finally complied. "Caden, they never told me what the whole plan was. They just wanted you and I to get Natalie to cooperate. Now that I know...I don't know anymore. If this does work out, do you know how much everyone would benefit from it?"

"Sacrifice Natalie's own sanity, in order to achieve this ardent plan? I can't do that. I'm not going to turn into another Castiel and let some plan over take what I know is right."

Sarah remained silent, her eyes locking down on Caden as he began to pace once again. She didn't particularly know how she felt about this but the angels won't handle it very well.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Sarah finally questioned. "We have been in this, with them for quite some time. They are not going to like the fact that you just bailed on them."

Caden halted and turned sharply to Sarah. "Then they will just have to deal with me. You know, maybe I should just surrender myself. Stop with the hiding. They will find me eventually."

"Do you think Naomi is going to let Daniel know that she has had some form of contact with you?"

"Maybe." Caden sauntered over to the worn down couch and leaned his hands on the backrest. "All that I know is that the leviathan are still out there. I'm going to help them get this under control...and then I'll face the consequences of what I did."

"What if you don't get to help them?" Sarah challenged. "What if they are able to get you before any of this is over?"

Caden shrugged, limply. "Then so be it."

Sarah could hear it in Caden's voice, this was final. He didn't care what happened to him, he just wanted to make sure that Natalie wouldn't have to go through that kind of hell. Sarah didn't know where she stood on this argument. Neutral was probably the best answer. She agreed with Caden, the treatment the angels would put Natalie through is, ironically, inhumane. But, she wasn't going to be hasty and choose a side. Truthfully, she was full on confused, which she has never experienced before. But, Caden and her had always been their own team. She wasn't going to leave his side.

"What are you going to do about the other angels?" Sarah asked the question that was eating away at both their minds. "I can guarantee that they are not going to just leave her alone. Natalie is supposed to do _all _of it. It has to be."

"Well, it's not written down as any prophecy." Caden bit back. "They can find someone else just as easily if they are so eager to get this done."

"Would you really allow them to choose some other unfortunate human?"

"What else can I do Sarah?" Caden was growing frustrated. "It is going to be me against all of them. If I could fully stop them, I would."

Allowing his head to hang, Caden knew that he was at a standstill. The best decision he could think of was to tell Natalie everything. Even if it meant that it will break their trust, he would rather have her angry at him and safe, then in the hands of his kind.

"I'm going to have to tell her. Tell her everything."

"What good is that going to do?"

Caden finally looked up and shook his head, he was so unsure about it. There was nothing else he could do."I don't know. But, if I tell her, at least she will be informed about the situation."

"You think she is going to be able to put up a successful fight against them?"

"She's good at putting up fights. Plus, she has Sam and Dean with her. They're not going to let anything happen to her." Caden was saying this as more of a way to convince himself. "I regret this so much. I should have never agreed to be apart of this."

"The one thing I am worried about is...will they release the information that Naomi has been contacting you? We can't have nearly all of the angels out for you. And trust me Caden, more than half of the angels despise you. Daniel's false accusations of you working with Castiel to open Purgatory are full fledge. Nearly every angel believes it."

"I don't think Naomi would release that information." Caden sounded fairly confident that it made Sarah feel less optimistic. "If the other angels know that she's been contacting me, her vouch for the win will be over. She'll look just as guilty."

Sarah shrugged out her doubt. "I hope you're right."

Caden and Sarah both went silent, each of them trying to think about what they needed to do next. But, there was no answer to that. The only thing they really can do is to wait and see what the angels will do. And whatever outcome branches from that, Caden will deal with it.

Their silent mulling was cut short. Caden's cell phone began to go off and Sarah stared at the device, curiously. She had never took it upon herself to learn to how use a phone. She didn't see the need for it. Caden took the phone out of his pocket, quickly seeing that it was Natalie who was calling.

"Yes?"

_"Wow. You answered a call in record time. Guess you're not having that much trouble with it anymore." _

Caden didn't try to the suppress the smile that appeared. "I have gotten better at it. How are you Natalie?"

_"Um. Fine, I guess. We just got back to Montana and...something has happened." _

"Well, you usually don't call unless you have something to tell me. What's wrong?"

_"Okay. Well we were at our last job, a leviathan attacked Sam and Dean." _

"A leviathan." Caden turned to look at Sarah, who was just as equally curious about the conversation. "Are they hurt?"

_"No. Actually, we're all fine. However, Dean managed to behead the thing and we drove all the way back here...with it." _

Caden hesiated and blinked a few times, making sure he understood her correctly. "Wait. You brought the leviathan back with you."

_"Yeah." _

"Why would you do that?"

_"Well, Dean made a good point. If we brought the Leviathan back to Bobby, he might be able to figure out what makes this think tick. You know, try and find its weakness." _

"I suppose that's a fair enough plan."

_"Anyway, I was calling to see if you and Sarah wanted to zap on over here and take a look at this thing for yourselves. Maybe, you can even offer some assistance." _

"Of course, we'll be there soon." Caden pulled the phone away and stashed it back into his pocket. "We must go and see them. Maybe we can offer some assistance."

Sarah shrugged. "Fine, by me."

* * *

It was kind of a crazy thought the more all of them simmered on it. They had a damn Leviathan chained up in the basement of the cabin. They had been hiding from these things for weeks and now, one was sitting in their clutches. They could do whatever they want with it. At least, they were hoping that it could tell them what would be this species Kryptonite. When Caden and Sarah arrived, they both were speechless at seeing the creature sitting in front of them. Sarah had not encountered these things since before God stashed them away into Purgatory. And Caden can barely remember the confrontation he had with the one down in Omaha. Regardless, these creatures were not ones they hoped to greet again. Sarah made sure to place a binding spell on the creature, weakening its strength. Bobby, of course always being left out of the loop, had to ask several times who Sarah was before he received an answer, Another angel. He was less than optimistic about putting too much trust with these two, but it wasn't the time for him to deny their help. They were scant with who they had as valuable allies. Any kind of help would do.

They had left Bobby to do his work with Chet, which they had learned from constant questioning. Using any kind of tactic he could think of to get the thing to talk. Literally, nothing that Bobby used had any effect on the thing. Not even so much as a twitch. Bobby was simply dumbfounded. He had never encountered a creature that wasn't bothered by holy water, salt, iron, or anything. There was a heavy weight that crushed down on him during his treatment. All of it was doing nothing. He had this small sense of hopelessness. That usually isn't the way Bobby handled situations, but this was different. From what he has been able to gather from this little interrogation, there is _no _way in killing these things. No way to weaken them either. He started to think whether they could even win this war against the leviathan. Humans were vulnerable. No way to defend themselves against these creatures. And here was Bobby, who was a hunter, who had all of this information and different ways of killing monsters. And yet, there is one who manages to defy all that he knew about this world.

The interrogation was going on a little too long. Sam, Dean and Natalie had waited upstairs with the angels, when Natalie finally decided that she was done waiting. There wasn't much that they could hear from the basement. No screams. Nothing. Natalie made her way down the basement steps, with Sam and Dean trailing behind her. Caden and Sarah vouched to stay out of the basement for now. Natalie stepped off the stairs and saw the Leviathan slowly turn his gaze at them. She didn't give him the benefit of eye contact. Instead, she walked right over to here Bobby was standing, a few syringes were laid out on a small tray. Natalie spotted one that was nearly full and picked it up.

"What's in this one?"

"Fruit from the poison tree."

Natalie raised a brow and side eyed Bobby. She nodded and slowly turned to look at Chet. "Okay, then." Natalie walked over to Chet and stuck the needle into his thigh. Pulling out the needle, they were all met with an unsatisfied response.

Chet smacked his lips together and pouted his lips out. "Hmm. Not back. It doesn't have that sour after taste like holy water or rock salt."

Natalie exhaled heavily as she went over to the table and placed the syringe back down on the tray. "Okay, so, fruit from the poison doesn't do crap."

"I've tried pretty much everything. And he's still not saying anything." Bobby cleaned up the table and disposed of the used syringes.

Dean pulled a stool over to where Chet was and sat down right next to him. "Alright. Enough is enough. How did you find us?"

"Oh. I just simply used pattern-recognition software and basic algorithm to track down your aliases." Chet gave a dramatic roll of the eyes and a sigh, trying to convey boredom. "It was so tedious."

"And how did you know what our aliases were?" Dean asked.

Chet gave Dean a look. "From your angel friend, Castiel. While we were all camped out inside him, we were able to get all of the details. A full download."

"Then why are you even answering his questions?" Natalie interrupted. "You must stupid to be giving out information."

"Oh, please." Chet blurted out. "I'm not scared of any of you. You are the ones that feel threatened, because you have no idea how to kill us. And we're everywhere. Edgar was just the first for you two." He motioned over at Sam and Dean.

Then, his eyes turned to Natalie, locking down in an uncomfortable stare. "And Matt was just getting started with you."

Natalie's brow creased, she didn't recognize the name.

"Maybe the mention of Omaha will spark your memory."

Chet's statement did just that. Natalie's expression fell at the memory of the leviathan that attacked her and killed Alex's uncle. The thing that literally destroyed Alex's life.

"You all can keep me down here as long as you want. But, I'm not the only one you need to be concerned about. My entire kind are looking for you three...and they will find you. Just wait."

"Then, we'll have to make some back up plans." Natalie commented. Giving Bobby a quick glance, Natalie quickly headed back up the basement stairs. When she walked out, Caden and Sarah were standing near the kitchen table when Natalie strolled over to them.

"Nothing works." She offered the information quickly, it took Caden and Sarah a few seconds to process what she had said.

"Nothing." Caden repeated. "I don't know why I'm surprised, but...well, I am."

Sam and Dean made their way over to them, but Bobby never came up, telling the group that he was still down there. Possibly thinking of other treatments that might work.

"Caden." Sam began. "Is there anything at all about the leviathans we should know? Do you know anything that might be helpful?"

Caden shook his head, pure sincerity emanated from his eyes. "I don't. We were there when God created them and we saw what kind of mayhem they caused. God quickly created Purgatory and shoved them in there." Caden casted a quick glance over at Sarah, before resuming. "None of the angels were able to truly study these creatures."

"So, you have nothing on them that could tell us their weakness." Sam clarified.

"I'm sorry, I wish I did. Like I said before. The information that the scribe wrote down on the tablets will most likely give you answers. But, even then I don't know what is on those tablets."

"Would you possibly have any kind of inkling of where it could be?" Dean asked. Sam had told Dean back at Clara's cabin what Caden had told them when he and Natalie spoke with him. But, Dean just thought there might be a possibility Caden might've remembered knowing something.

"No. None of the angels do." Caden replied, much to their dismay.

"We're just gonna have to stick to our limited basics then." Dean concluded.

"Yeah and that includes reading through multiple books and coming up empty handed." Natalie added. "Bobby has tried nearly everything, none of them work. We have the books that he picked up from the house and I guarantee, nothing in them will help us."

Dean could only shrug at Natalie's words. There was really nothing he could say because he felt almost the exact same way. It was annoying to think that even with a leviathan chained up in the cabin, they were still on stage one. They haven't moved forward.

"Well, the best thing we can do is to just keep on reading and researching." Dean finally settled on his answer and began to sift through the books on the kitchen table.

"Something that we all want to do." Natalie replied, sarcastically.

Natalie, Sam and Dean pulled random books out of the pile. Even Sarah helped herself to one, which Natalie found to be a little amusing. It's not everyday she gets to see an angel read at their own free will. However, Caden had his own plan. He wanted to get Natalie out of the room and somewhere else so he can talk with her.

Caden quickly walked over to Natalie. "I need to talk to you."

Natalie looked up from her book and gave Caden a questioning look. "About what?"

Caden hesitated for a moment. "We need to talk...in private."

That was something Natalie didn't expect to hear. She could see the seriousness in his eyes, making her think that the subject was very important. Natalie slowly nodded. "Okay." Turning to Sam, she placed her hand on his shoulder and informed him that she would be right back. Natalie then led Caden out onto the front porch and closed the door behind them.

When she looked at Caden, his back was turned towards her and he was looking out across the front yard. As she went to stand next to him, Natalie could see a harsh contemplating look on his face. And a little hesitation. Like he was struggling with the choice to actually tell her what he needed to or not.

Natalie crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the angel. Although, he started to behave a little differently. When he turned to look at her, he looked like he was going to combust from whatever kind of tug-o-war thing that was going on in his head. He repeatedly would open his mouth, as if he was attempting to say something and then close it, deciding not too. He did that _repeatedly, _and each time, Natalie gave him an expectant look, thinking she was going to hear something from him. After about the fifth time of doing it, Natalie finally decided to actually get the conversation going.

"What's wrong Caden, because it really looks like you need to tell me something. So, just tell me." Natalie actually hoped that she didn't come off as too annoyed, but it was just ridiculous seeing him do that.

"There's something that's going on, that you really need to know. And it's about the angels."

"Oh god." Natalie closed her eyes and pinched at the bridge of her nose. This was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. "More angel drama." She groaned out. Sniffing, she looked back up and showed that he had her full attention. "Okay, what's going on with the angels?"

"There was a plan that was developed, just a little after the leviathans escaped. And—" Caden had to stop. He was looking right into Natalie's eyes, how was he supposed to just come right out and tell her what he's been doing? Going behind her back, being apart of this plan that he wished he never agreed too.

"What is it?" Natalie pressed the matter further.

Caden had decided to do this because he wanted Natalie to be informed of the situation. He stated that, even though this might destroy what trust these two had, it would be much better that way. However, that's not what Caden wanted. He wanted to keep this trust with Natalie, she was part of a very slim group of allies he had. Out of that entire group, only Sarah and Natalie were the ones that Caden felt he could rely upon. He didn't want to ruin that and he was being selfish.

"Caden?" Natalie tried pressing him a little more. "What is it? You made it sound like it was really important."

"The plan...was something that Sarah and I had information on."

Natalie nodded, but Caden could see her brows furrow with growing suspicion.

"But, we had no idea of the full scale that the angels were planning. And we only just found out."

"Wait a minute," Natalie shook her head. "Does this plan have anything to do with the whole heaven deal that's been going on? What, did one group of angels come up with some sleazy plan to knock out the other challengers?"

Caden shook his head. "No, it has nothing to do with what's been going on in heaven. It actually has to do with what's going on down here."

"The leviathan?" Natalie's eyes then widened. "Wait, are you saying that the other angels have a plan to defeat them?"

"No. Well, not exactly. I just don't know how to give you this information."

"Well, you seem really nervous." Natalie inquired.

"It's because I know that all that I tell you...it will change everything. For everyone. And I don't think I want that to happen."

Natalie was confused. Caden was making some sense, but now he has just lost Natalie. He's acting very cryptic about this information and internally, Natalie didn't like that one bit. It will change everything for everyone, what the hell does that mean?

"Caden, what—" Natalie paused when her phone began to go off and she quickly pulled it out, seeing that it was Jake calling her. Looking up at Caden, she offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Just give me a minute."

Natalie walked a few feet away from Caden and answered the call. "Hey, Jake. What's up?"

_"Are you busy?" _

Natalie furrowed her brows at his question. "Um, it's about fifty-fifty. Why?"

_"I need you to come out to Larson, Oregon." _

"Oregon?" Natalie repeated. A look of exhaustion washed over her face and the sense that she didn't want to go anywhere "Jake, that's like a twelve hour drive for me."

_"Well, I think I got something down here and I need your help with it."_

"Wait, why are you alone? Where's your dad?"

_"Can you make it down here?" _

Natalie rolled her eyes at Jake's light impatience. Leaning her head back, Natalie blew out a breath and groaned. "Fine. I'll be down there soon." Natalie turned back around to Caden and gave him a small shrug. "Sorry, but, I'm gonna need to head out."

Caden merely nodded.

"You going to tell me what I need to know?" Natalie decided to press the matter a little bit. See if she could squeeze the info out of him before leaving.

Caden's lips cinched to the side and he finally shook his head. "No. Some of the plan is still a little unclear. I'll let you know when Sarah and I have it all sorted out."

Natalie gave Caden a cautious look and raised her brows. "Alright, then."

Caden and Natalie made their way back into the cabin, seeing that Bobby had finally come back up from the basement. Natalie made the quick announcement that Jake needed her down in Oregon. Of course, they wanted an explanation, but all Natalie could give them was that he needed help on a case. Natalie went into her room and picked up her duffle bag, which had not been unpacked from the last trip and walked back out of the room. She quickly motioned for Sam to follow her, which he did without question. After announcing she would call when she made it down there, Natalie and Sam both walked out of the cabin and towards her car.

"There was a reason why I wanted you to come out here with me." Natalie finally began to explain.

"What is it?"

Natalie opened her car door and threw her bag into the back seat before turning towards Sam. "Um. Caden and I just had a pretty...weird conversation. He was trying to tell me something, but he was having a hard time getting it out."

Sam hummed. "Did he give you any specifics?"

Natalie shrugged. "No. Not really. Only that the angels have some kind of plan devised. For what? I have absolutely no idea. So, I just want you to keep an eye on him. He seemed really bothered by it."

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "I'll watch him. Don't worry about it."

Natalie closed her eyes and groaned, rested her head against his chest to which he answered by wrapping his arm around her back. "I really don't want to drive all the way down to Oregon."

Sam's chest vibrated from his laugh. "You want me to go with you?"

It was tempting. Sam could possibly drive down there so that she could sleep in the passenger seat. But, usually when it came to Jake, she had to deal with him on her own. Plus, it's been a while since she's been able to have time with him. "No. I appreciate it, but Bobby is going to need as much help as he can with this one."

"Fine by me."

"Oh and make sure that Bobby doesn't try and drill into Sarah. I mean, I'm not really on great terms with her. But, I think the last thing Sarah needs is to be grilled by him."

Sam couldn't help but smile. Natalie's face was pressed up against his chest and it jumbled her words around, almost making it sound like she was drunk. He found it amusing. "I'll keep an eye on him. She seems quiet though. Not really one to engage much in our conversations."

"Well, we hardly know the angel. Maybe you three will be able to earn a lot from this quality time with them."

"Can't wait. Quality time with angels. Been a while since we've been able to have those kinds of sessions."

"Okay. Well, Larson is about a twelve hour drive, so I better head out."

"Okay." Sam waited for Natalie to pull away, but she didn't. She just remained next to him, head resting against his chest. "Nad."

Natalie gave a small groan as she finally pulled away from him. But, when she did, Natalie noticed Sam's eyes were scrunched closed and she could read discomfort on his face. "Are you alright?"

Sam brought his hand up to his forehead and blew out a breath. Natalie just remained in front of him, her hand taking a comforting hold on his shoulder, allowing him to run through this episode in his own time. Finally, the pounding ceased and he opened his eyes, taking in a sharp breath.

"Are you okay?" Natalie tried again.

"Yeah." He quickly breathed out. "Yeah. It was just a little...headache. I'm fine."

"We still need to try and fix that." Natalie sadly commented.

Sam was quick to shake his head. "I'm fine Nad. Really, it was just a headache. Nothing more than that."

Natalie cinched her lips to the side and then wrapped her arm around his neck, bringing him close to her and resting her chin on his shoulder. She was just so worried about him. He had been doing fine for the past few weeks. It wasn't until now that Natalie began to think that some more might be going on in his head. If she became too pushy about the matter, Sam wasn't going to talk about it at all. She resulted to just giving him the opportunity to talk whenever he felt like it. But, she knew that it was going to backfire, badly.

Sam was actually grateful for this right now, having her in his arms. The little episode was more than just a headache. Lucifer was belting lines from some song that he had no interest in trying to figure out who it was from. Sam had found out early on, that Natalie was his own personal anchor. She always brought him back to reality and that is what she was doing right now. He pulled her closer to him, nestling his face against her neck, trying to take in as much as he could.

"You're going to be fine." It was Natalie's turn to give her own reassurance to Sam. It was always him telling her that he was fine, that he was doing okay. Even though that was probably farther from the truth, Natalie did it to not only help Sam but to help her as well.

Sam nodded and said, "I know." His breath brushed against her neck, which made her faintly smile.

Natalie breathed out an 'okay' and they both loosened their holds on each other, but Sam placed a quick kiss against her forehead.

"Drive safe."

Natalie nodded and brushed her hand through his hair one time. "I will."

* * *

A twelve hour drive. Natalie should be used to it by now. She has driven for long hours before, this should have been a piece of cake to her. However, Jake had called her at a really bad time. They had wrangled up the body of a leviathan and drove all the way back to Montana. She was exhausted. About six hours into her drive, she was beat. Natalie had found a small path that led to an abandoned house in a wooded area. But, she didn't try to seek refuge inside the worn down structure. She simply parked the car and passed out in the front seat, which isn't the most comfortable place in a car to sleep in. Actually, a car is never comfortable to sleep in. But, Natalie had been too tired to make a valid decision.

Natalie was woken by a message that was sent to her phone. Reaching her arm over to the passenger seat, Natalie pulled the phone out and roughly brought it towards her face. She immediately squinted her eyes closed from the phone's light and after blinking several times, Natalie was able to read the message that Jake had sent her.

_"Not surprised that you pulled over for the night. Meet me at Howell's bar once you reach town." _

Natalie stared at the message and exhaled a heavy sigh, after checking the time, she tossed the phone back into the seat. _5:30 a.m. _She still had six more hours to go, she might as well get going. After picking up breakfast and some much needed caffeine, Natalie headed back onto the highway. It was halfway into the second leg of her drive when Natalie realized that she didn't call Sam to tell him that she was pulling over. She didn't have any missed calls from them, so that told her they didn't seem too concerned. But, she did place some money that one of them would call her before the drive was over. Just as she had predicted, a call came in about three hours into the drive and Natalie decided to ignore it. She wasn't that far out from the town. She'll call them back once she gets to the town. Seeing the towns greeting sign made Natalie blow out a relieved breath. Finally, this drive was over and finding the bar proved to be easier than she thought. Especially when the location has a big old sign to mark its location. Natalie pulled her car into a parking space, shifted the gear into park and picked up her phone to call back Sam. As usual, she received his voicemail and she didn't want to call back several times to try and reach him.

"Hey, Sam. Sorry I didn't answer your call earlier. But, I'm in the town now, yeah, it took my a lot longer because I pulled over last night and passed out in the car. Anyway, I'm fine and I'll call back later with updates. Okay...I love you. Bye."

Natalie felt a little ridiculous at the full on smile she was showing off after she ended the call. She and Sam had barely said that phrase, only on the occasion where they felt like they _needed _to voice it. For both of them, it was very easy to read it from their expressions or by small gestures. They didn't need to vocalize what they meant to each other every time. However, in this moment, Natalie just had the strong urge to say it. After seeing his little migraine episode before leaving, she thought that saying it would help him in some way.

Shoving her phone into her pocket, Natalie got out of her car and made her way into the building. Immediately she was met with music being played from the antique jukebox in the corner, Rag Doll by Aerosmith. _Dean would probably approve. _Groups of people were gathered around the two pool tables and countless others sitting at the bar and dining tables. Her eyes finally settled on Jake, who was sitting at the bar, pulling out files from his bag. Natalie smiled and made her way over to her and clasped down on his shoulder, which made him jump and he visibly relaxed when he saw Natalie.

"That is a really firm grasp you got going on."

Natalie gave him a tight squeeze as she sat down next to him. "Well, you're the one who insisted I drive twelve hours down to Oregon. I'm a little tired to say the least."

Jake offered a sympathetic smile. "Sorry."

Natalie simply shrugged off his apology, telling him that she wasn't being too serious with him. "Why did you call me anyways? I thought your dad would be the one to help you with a case."

Jake gave a half shrug and laughed. "You would think. But, he got a call from a hunter who needed his help with something. Didn't give me any specifics. So, since he couldn't help me with a case, I decided to call you."

Natalie hummed. "It's been a while since you and I went on a case together." At this, Natalie raised her brows and smiled. "I'm curious to see how we manage to screw this one up."

Jake gave her an over the top offended look. "Hey. We are really good at doing cases together."

"Right. Do I need to bring up the ghost in New Orleans? Or how about the werewolf up on Pennsylvania?"

Jake shrugged off Natalie's questions. "I don't what you're talking about."

"Yeah, sure." Natalie replied, feigning forced annoyance. "We almost got killed on those cases."

"It was just simple mistakes that we made." Jake tried to fight back.

"Excuse me?" Natalie questioned. "I think you mean the mistakes _you _made."

"We all makes mistakes." Jake feebly attempted to defend himself.

"In our line of work, that isn't something we can afford because it can literally get us killed."

"Whatever you say Ms. Debby Downer." Jake pulled the folder over to him and gave Natalie a quick glance. "Are you ready to hear about the case?"

Natalie gave an enthusiastic nod. "Hit me with it." Jake shook his head at Natalie's phrase and opened the folder to pull out the newspaper clippings he had received.

_"What can I get you two to drink?"_

The question made both of the hunters pause in their movements, their eyes glued on the folder sitting in front of them. Natalie recognized the voice immediately and her entire body froze. Jake was already looking at the woman and Natalie could see a sense of surprise cross over his face. Finally, she allowed herself to raise her head and her lips pursed together at who she saw.

"Alex." Natalie managed to whisper.

Alex offered both of them genuine smiles and even though she had spotted them from the other end of the bar, it was still surprising to see them sitting in this place. "Hi." she offered timidly.

The bar was full of music and mindless chatter, however, the silence that permitted between the three of them was all they could hear. Jake spared a look over at Natalie and saw that she didn't really know how to address Alex. That whole ordeal was still a sensitive subject for Natalie and she thought that she would never see Alex again. Why would she?

Alex could sense this and cleared her throat. "It's good to see you both. Although, I never expected to see you two down here in Larson."

Jake saw that Natalie couldn't exactly articulate words at the moment, he then decided to carry on the conversation. "Yeah. We are here on a potential case."

Alex nodded. She gazed down and saw the newspaper clipping. "You two are hear about the disappearance of Mia Carter."

Jake looked down at the file and nodded.

"You think it's a potential case?" Alex asked.

"It seemed a little strange to me. A young girl just up and disappears. No trace. It got me a little curious I will admit."

Alex nodded sadly. "Well, I hope you two will be able to find something. It's really sad that it had to happen to her family."

"Do you know the family?" Jake asked, curiously.

"Well, not exceptionally well. But, this town may look big, but everyone seems to know each other. I haven't been here that long, but I've been able to become acquainted with the townspeople. And Mia was the sweetest little girl you could ever meet."

"Have you noticed anything...strange perhaps?"

Alex shook her head at Jake's question. "Not that I'm aware of. But, the fact that you two are here, tells me that I'm not that well educated with these things. But, I can say that this isn't the first time this has happened."

Both Natalie and Jake gave Alex a confused look. "What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"Well, from what I've heard from my friend, there have been a few cases in the past where kids have gone missing. None of them have been found. Not sure if that is of much help."

"No, it's fine. Actually, that might come into use for us later." Jake assured her even though he was deep in his own contemplation.

Alex turned her focus over to Natalie, who had been quiet during the entirety of her and Jake's conversation. And, Alex noticed that Natalie was trying to avoid from making real eye contact with her. Alex didn't know Natalie that well, yet she knew why Natalie was behaving like this. It all had to do with Omaha. She couldn't blame her for acting like this. If Alex was in Natalie's shoes, she'd be acting the same way as well. But, Alex decided to try and break the ice with her.

"How have you been Natalie?"

Alex's question caught Natalie a little off guard and she stared up at her, eyes slightly widened. But, Natalie was only met with Alex's signature smile.

"Um. I'm fine."

Alex gave a nod at Natalie's mundane answer. "How are Sam and Dean?"

"They're good. They're just, um really busy with...stuff."

"The whole leviathan thing."

Natalie nodded.

Alex leaned her hand on the counter and shifted her weight onto her right leg. "Is that whole situation even close to being dealt with?"

Natalie gave a half shrug. "Well. We managed to capture one of them. Brought it with us to see if we could determine what makes it tick. Nothing so far."

Alex's lips cinched to the side. "I'm sorry to hear that. But, I'm sure you guys will come up with something. All of the searching can't be for nothing."

Natalie only gave Alex a timid smile before focusing her gaze back on the news articles.

Alex let out a silent breath and looked at Jake, who seemed a little irked by Natale's behavior. "Is there anything I can get you guys?"

Jake looked over at Natalie, who only gave him a shrug. _Get us whatever. _Natalie took the file and pulled it closer to her. "Just get us two Coronas."

Alex gave a single nod. "For the record, I hope you two solve this case."

Jake offered her a smile as she went to get their drinks, then he turned to Natalie who was occupying herself by reading the article. "Well. That wasn't awkward at all." He sarcastically commented.

Natalie gave an eye roll and stared at Jake.

"Oh don't give me that look." Jake scolded, not wanting to have her giving him that kind of attitude. "You hardly said anything to her."

Natalie gave a sheepish shrug. "I didn't expect to see her. Plus, after everything that happened...I thought she would never want to see me again."

Jake smiled, kept himself from saying anything as Alex finally gave them their drinks before going to take care of the other customers. "I don't know about you, but it seems like she's completely fine around you."

"It's really easy to put up a fake front, Jake. I think I've mastered that skill."

Jake pushed Natalie's beer towards her before taking a drink from his own. "So, what you think Alex is just pretending to be all nice to you?"

Natalie shrugged. "I'm not saying that. I just think there might be more to how she feels about seeing me here."

"I think you're just being paranoid."

"Can we please get off the subject?" Natalie was annoyed. She didn't want to stay on the subject any longer because she knew that Jake was right. "Let's focus on this case, please."

"Fine." Jake took another drink. "So, a few days ago Mia's parents called in that their daughter was gone. There was no trace of her. She literally just disappeared into thin air."

Natalie narrowed her eyes before closing the file and picking up her beer. "Okay. So, what did the parents say when they were questioned?"

"Well, we still have to go down to the station to talk with the detective. But, from what I was able to gather, they had no idea of what happened to her. They didn't hear anything while they were sleeping. Nothing."

Natalie nodded. "Okay. I must admit, I'm not too sure if this is a case. I mean, it could've been forced entry. Someone came in and took her."

"The police are looking at that as a possible scenario."

"Alright." Natalie began to chug at what was left of her beer and placed the bottle back down. "Let's go check in at the motel, change into our outfits and head down to the station."

Jake quickly finished up his beer, while Natalie left money for the drinks, which Jake had offered to pay for. They both drove down to the nearest motel and checked in. It was actually a rather nice place, compared to the other motels that these two have stayed at in the past. They got their motel room and agreed to be ready within ten minutes—they got done in about six minutes. They piled into Jake's car and then made the drive down to the police station. After speaking with the officer at the head desk and waiting for about ten minutes, they were finally granted the meeting of the detective who was the head of the investigation. James Hansen was his name and Natalie was silently waiting for him to be like Turner. Someone who had brushed into a few hunters—that wasn't the case with him, which Natalie was a little grateful for.

"We didn't really expect to see you that soon." James motioned at the two seats in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you." Both Jake and Natalie murmured as they sat down in the chairs.

"We were just wondering if you would be able to run through what you were able to find at the home." Jake said.

"I'm pretty sure that I sent out the report to your branch. You should have received it before arriving in town."

"Right. Our system sort of had a small failure. We weren't able to get the information." Natalie offered, giving both her and Jake a good save.

James nodded. "Right. When we arrived at the home, we found nothing out of the ordinary. We checked the girl's bedroom, no sign of a struggle, not foreign footprints—only hers. There was no sign of forced entry either."

_That shoots down my kidnapping theory. _Natalie thought.

"The rest of the family were sleeping when the event occurred. We're not sure exactly what time Mia disappeared."

"Is it a possibility that Mia might have just wondered off in the middle of the night?" Natalie asked and the look on his face made Natalie realize that she would have to elaborate. "I realize that a young eleven year old girl just leaving the home might not seem like a normal thing to happen, but it can."

James shook his head. "I know this family. I knew their daughter very well. She wasn't that kind of kid."

"How have the searches been going?" Jake went onto ask.

"We have dispatched several units to go searching through the woods at the family's property. They haven't been able to find any kind of trace from Mia. It's literally like she just vanished."

"Detective Hansen, we have been informed by a few of the people that this isn't the first time a child has gone missing like this."

James' expression immediately fell and a heavy exhale followed it. "There have been cases like this in the past. Still unsolved. And that's why I want to make sure that we find her."

"Would it be alright if we checked out the family property?"

"No that's perfectly fine. My team are still down there trying to collect samples."

* * *

Natalie and Jake stepped out of the car, their eyes scanning over the vast home in front of them, the front yard was still crawling with several officers. And there were several groups walking in and out of the woods. As they walked up, they showed their badges to the officer who was about to stop them and they were granted access.

"You want to fill us in on what's been going on with the searches?" Natalie asked the officer as he began to guide them down a hill, towards the woods.

"We set up a 200 foot perimeter in the woods and branched out from them. We weren't able to find any footprints, aside from animal tracks."

"So, you only scouted out about 200 feet?" Jake asked.

The officer nodded. "These woods are vast, as you can see. But, since we didn't find any of her footsteps, the possibility of her being lost in there would be low."

They had finally made it towards the edge of the property where the woods began. Natalie took a moment to look back to see how far the house was, it was a good few hundred feet, not to mention the hill they had to walk down.

"We've already called out the report to the neighboring states. It's probably more likely she's out of state."

Natalie and Jake took the information, but they were not satisfied with what they received. The officer excused himself, leaving Natalie and Jake at the mouth of the woods. Giving each other quick looks, they stepped into the area and began their walk. It was huge and vast, this family lived in a very rural part of the town and by the looks of it, Natalie felt that it would be very easy to get lost in this place. Entering the woods was simple enough, the terrain was very flat, but when they walked deeper in, the ground suddenly dipped into a small decline. Making sure to take easy steps, they finally made it to the bottom and were greeted with only flatland and lots of trees. Natalie exhaled loudly, her breath forming into small clouds in front of her face. It had rained earlier, before they had reached down and it brought down the temperature tremendously.

"This place is enormous." She gazed around them. "You think that she might have possibly wandered off into here?"

"What?" Jake turned to her. "At eleven o'clock at night? I don't think so."

"Well, she is a little kid. Kids sometimes do things that they're not supposed to. Like wandering off."

"I don't think she would do something like this." Jake stated.

Natalie shrugged and branched off towards the left. She was making her way towards a small bundle of branches when she felt something underneath her foot. Stopping, she gazed down and stepped back, seeing something sticking out of the mud. Natalie knelt down and pulled the object out of the mud. It wasn't covered entirely, enabling Natalie to identify the object. When she did, her eyes widened in shock.

"Jake." Natalie's voice was tense, which garnered Jake's attention quickly. "This is...a bone. It's a human bone."

Jake stood next to Natalie, his eyes assessing the object that was being held between her thumb and index finger. And when he looked at her, Natalie seemed like she was going to freak out. To save her from that, Jake gently took the object from her to which Natalie answered with a disgusted groan. Jake turned around and walked over to the small creek and began to wash off the mud.

"I can't believe I just picked up a human bone. Who knows how long that thing has been there." Natalie held her arms close to her chest, an unsatisfied look was painted all over her face.

Once the object was decently cleaned, Jake took a minute to inspect it and then let out a hum. "That's interesting."

"You think finding a random human bone is interesting? I'm starting to worry now, Jake."

"No." Jake sighed. He got up and walked back over to Natalie, holding the bone out to her which made her back up. "It's...okay, yes it's a human bone...but look at it."

Natalie gave Jake an unsure look before finally allowing herself to fully examine it. "What are those little holes?"

"This whole bone is hollow." Jake showed her the ends which enabled them to see through the thing. "The way these little holes are positioned...it's an instrument."

Natalie paused, eyes glued on the object in his hands and her mouth formed into a pout. "That's disgusting."

"It can be a clue for us Nad." Jake clarified. "There is no way this was just lying here on purpose. Something or someone must have dropped it."

"Someone?" Natalie repeated. "Oh great, are we going to have to deal with some kind of cannibal? Because I don't really have the stomach to deal with that again."

"No. I don't think it's a cannibal. But, it is our only clue to finding out what happened to Mia."

"You really think that this has to do with her disappearance?"

Jake raised his arms. "It's the only lead that we have so far. We might as well take it."

Natalie gave a visible shiver as she stared down at the bone instrument. "If you say so."

Jake nodded, satisfied that he was able to get Natalie to agree with him. However, when he looked down at the bone in his hand, he started to feel a little uneasy. "Yeah, you're right, this is really creepy."

"Why don't you try playing it?" Natalie commented, the sarcasm was a little faint in her tone.

Jake gave her a look and resumed to search the area where Natalie had found it. There might be something else that she didn't spot.

Natalie wandered a few feet away, not wanting to stand near the area anymore. In the distance, Natalie could hear very faint music, a single instrument and it didn't take her long to identify it as a flute. Before she could say anything, Natalie felt an eretheal peace come over her. She was focused on nothing except for the music. The music, which was distant at first, was now clear as day, like someone was playing it right next to her. She began to take quiet, gentle steps towards the direction where it was coming from, her vision blurred at the edges and her mind was focused on nothing else, except for finding the location. She had no idea where she was going, she just had the urgent need to find it. There was this nagging feeling that she had to follow it. She _had_ to. Natalie walked through the creek, the water soaking the bottom hem of her pants, allowing dirt and bits of leaves to stick to the wet fabric. Her hearing had filtered out every noise, aside from the music.

Jake finished going through the dirt and exhaled. "Well, there's nothing else here, aside from this." He looked down at the flute and his brows creased. "Okay, the more I look at it, the more creeped out I become. I mean, not that finding a human bone is creepy enough, it's just—" Jake turned to look at Natalie, finding that she was no longer behind him. His mouth twitched into a frown. "Nad?" He turned a little and saw Natalie wandering off farther into the woods.

"Nad." Jake called out and stood up. "Nad!" He tried again, but she just kept on walking, acting like she didn't hear him. That alarmed him. Jake broke out into a jog, making a small jump to avoid the creek and picked up his pace until he managed to grab hold of her arm.

"Nad!" Jake tried turning her towards him, but Natalie was fighting against his hold the entire time.

"No." Natalie only whispered as Jake tried to stop her advancement.

He kept his hold on her arm and swiveled around until he was standing in front of her, his hand taking a firm grasp on her other arm. "Nad." He gave her a quick shake and that seemed to snap her out of it.

Natalie looked around until her eyes settled on Jake. "What are you doing? What happened?"

"I turned around and you were wandering off."

Natalie only shook her head, confusingly.

"You don't remember just...walking off?" Jake asked.

"I don't know. There was just this random music that I heard and I just...I don't really remember much. I just had this incredible urge to find something."

"Find something?" Jake asked. "And you heard music? What kind of music?"

"I don't know." Natalie replied. "I'm not a music expert. But, it did sound like some kind of flute music."

"Well, I didn't hear anything."

"Are you serious?" Natalie's eyes widened. "That music was clear as day."

Jake turned to look in the direction where Natalie was walking towards and shrugged. "I didn't hear anything Nad."

"Okay." Natalie began to take a few steps back. "This place is officially getting to me."

Jake began to follow in suit, seeing the disturbed look on her face. "Okay. Let's just get out of here. See what we can find on this thing here."

….

The little event in the woods had slightly shaken Natalie. She was already uneasy with the fact that she and Jake were in possession of a flute made from human bone. Add the fact that Natalie was practically being lured by something, it isn't at all surprising that they both were a little on edge about this. Despite this, Natalie and Jake decided to split up the research. Alex had told them that this isn't the first time the town had gone through this. Natalie needed to try and get documentation of the town's records. More specifically, information that would tell her how far back these disappearances have been occurring. Jake returned to the motel and began to find information on the flute that Natalie had found in the woods. Needless to say, the fact that he had "flute made from human bone" a thing in his search history wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing. But, the job required it.

Natalie made sure to make a call out to Bobby. Even though she knew he was busy with the leviathan, she wanted to exhausted him as a possible resource. Of course, Bobby had no idea what could be behind the disappearance. He was even a little more stumped by Natalie's statement about the flute they had found. He hadn't encountered something like that and he couldn't think of anything that would involved both a bone flute and missing children. Natalie should have known, if she and Jake never heard anything like this, what made her think Bobby would. Well actually, Bobby would be the person to know something she didn't. But, this was just way to bizarre, even for her, which was ironic.

On the way back, Natalie made sure to stop and pick up something for them to eat and then headed back to the motel. Natalie silently prayed that Jake would have something when she walked through that door. Natalie slid the key in and opened the door, seeing Jake was still on his laptop and with the most aggravated look on his face. Just seeing that look gave Natalie her answer.

"You haven't found anything, have you?" She asked, allowing the door to close behind her.

Jake pressed his hands to his face, let out a frustrated groan and then leaned up more in his chair. "No. I just contaminated my search history looking for information on flutes made from human bone and I haven't hit anything that would help us."

Natalie pursed her lips together as she set the bag of food and papers down on the table.

"All I was able to find was tons and tons of articles of ancient instruments made from _animal _bone. But, not human."

"Not gonna lie, Jake. I'm actually kinda glad that you haven't been able to find info this thing." She picked up the flute momentarily before setting it back down. "I mean, it would actually be very worrisome if you found info on something like this."

Jake gave a single nod. "As much as I agree with you on that, it still doesn't help us with this case. I mean, who would just leave this out in the woods? The thing was just sticking out of the ground, like someone had left it there."

"Well, I'm not entirely sure about that thing. However, I did strike some gold at the library." Natalie sat down at the table and pulled the small pile of papers towards her.

"Good." Jake pushed his laptop away from him. "At least that's one win. So, what did you find?"

"Okay. So, I asked the people there if they had any of the town's records, deaths, missing people, etc." Natalie laid out the sheets of paper. "I was able to find a complete list of people who lived here, a census I guess if you want to call it that. And I was able to narrow down the search to missing children and I found this..." Natalie picked up one of the papers and handed it to Jake. "Alex was completely right. Not that I doubted her."

Jake raised his brows Natalie to continue.

"These records date all the way back into the mid 1800's. Any records from farther back were not available to me. But, children have been going missing since then. Every ten years, a child disappears, they were unable to find them. They just vanished, just like the case with Mia. And then, I looked at recent records. The last disappearance...ten years ago, the victim was a eleven year old boy named Joshua Morgan. Ten years before that, Allison Jackson and then it just goes on and on. Ten year increments between each disappearance."

"There's also another similarity with the disappearances." Jake scanned over the papers and pointed at various names. "Each of the victims were eleven years old. Every single one of them. Mia, Joshua, Allison, the victim before her, Michael was eleven. What's with the number eleven?"

Natalie and Jake both sat in silence, their eyes glued on the copies of the records. "Okay." Natalie began. "This thing...whatever it is, only comes back for a child every ten years and they have to be eleven years old. What kind of thing does that?"

Jake was contemplating and Natalie could see that all too familiar look on his face. It was the type of look he made when he caught onto something. Sure enough, he went typing away at his laptop. But, there was something about the information that was just bugging her. It sounded _very _familiar, like she had read about something like this somewhere. It only took a few more seconds before she had a flash of clarity. Natalie stood up from her chair and rushed over to her bag. After shuffling through it for a while, she finally pulled out her father's journal and plopped back down on the seat, skipping through the pages. Finally she found the page she had been looking for and read through her father's writing. It was then that Natalie's lips curled into a smile.

"I think I may have found what we're looking for." Natalie spoke up, the sense of accomplishment was evident in her voice.

Jake looked up from the laptop and raised his brows at her. "What did you find?"

"I knew that information sounded familiar to me. My dad wrote it down in his journal. He got it after talking to a few hunters. He made it clear in here that he never actually hunted one of these things." She pointed at a section of the paper, which didn't look like it contained much.

"What is it?"

Natalie only smiled and let out a laugh of disbelief. "You're not gonna believe this, but. My dad wrote down that there is no official name for this type of creature, but everyone who has confronted it has dubbed it...a Pied Piper" Natalie finished and gazed up Jake, waiting for his reaction.

Jake remained frozen, his brows creased and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Wait, did you just say Pied Piper?"

Natalie nodded.

"You mean like the Pied Piper of Hamelin?"

"If you even want to compare this to that tale." Natalie let out another laugh. "Apparently, this creature, uses a flute to play music and lure children to its location. Hence why they call it a Pied Piper. I mean from the story, the Pied Piper takes the townspeople's children after they refused to pay him for his services. And the child that it abducts serves as one purpose. It uses their bones to fashion out their instruments. Hence..." Natalie then pointed at the flute on their table.

"Oh my god." Jake leaned back against his seat.

Natalie made a face as she continued to stare at the instruments. "That thing was made from one of the children it abducted."

Jake's face turned grim and he nodded. "I honestly don't know how exactly to take this."

Natalie felt like her stomach was churning and she was going to be sick. They had found a piece of bone that belonged to an earlier victim. She couldn't help but feel this sense of guilt, they were going to find Mia, but they couldn't help the other victims. It was unfortunate to say the least. Natalie shook her head and cleared her throat. "Alright. So, my dad wrote down that it kills its victim by starving them."

"What about killing the actual creature?" Jake asked.

Natalie skimmed down the page and then stopped. "My dad just has that a stab to the heart will kill the thing. It doesn't say whether it has to be iron or what. It just says, a stab to the heart will kill the creature."

"It sounds simple enough."

"It uses music as its weapon and also to lure in their victims. So, this flute. It was probably used as a instrument to lure victims to him. And it probably has a dozen more."

"That would explain the music that you heard in the woods earlier." Jake brought up. "I mean, it was really nice music, right?"

"Yeah." Natalie nodded. "It was actually really beautiful."

"It was using that particular instrument to lure you."

Natalie skimmed over the scant information and let out a laugh. "I can't believe that they call this thing a Pied Piper. I mean, I can see why they did, but it's just so unlikely. Who would've thought that a creature could impersonate a character from a tale."

Jake shrugged. "We do deal with strange things Natalie. There will always be something out there that we've never heard of before."

"I guess that's a luxury. Instead of just fighting ghosts, vampires and werewolves all the time, we get to have something new every once in a while."

Jake smiled. "Finding positives in this crappy life."

"You kinda need to." Natalie shrugged. "Well, the thing is in the woods somewhere. My dad never wrote down what kind of shelter this thing takes. But, if you're gonna keep a child captive, it has to be somewhere no one will look."

Jake nodded. "We need to keep that in mind. Let's pack up and head out there."

* * *

Jake and Natalie waited until the sun had almost disappeared completely before driving out to the property. They didn't want to drive up onto the family's driveway, instead, Jake parked the car near the side of the road, close to the woods. From the scant information that was given to them from the site, they had absolutely no clue where exactly this thing would hide out. It didn't give them any specifics. So, they both settled for looking for anything that would be ideal to hide a child and yourself. Armed with their flashlights, guns and machetes, they sauntered into the woods.

"Just what I needed, walking through woods in the dark." Natalie quietly commented.

"What is that a bad thing?"

"The last case I was on dealt with a wendigo. You could say that after that, I kind of wanted to venture away from woods for a little bit."

"How did that case go, by the way?" Natalie had only mentioned it briefly to him, but Jake never actually got to hear the full details.

"Well, since we are on a job right now. I'll just give you a quick rundown. Three girls go missing, their campsite was a complete mess. Oh and to top it all off, the leading investigator knew that we were hunters."

Jake shined the light at Natalie, forcing her to stop and stare at him. "Seriously?" Jake asked. "How did he know about hunters?"

"He'd encounter them before." Natalie then let out a huff. "And, he knew my dad."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah." Natalie's voice conveyed the same amount of surprise she had heard in Jake's question. "I was just as surprised as you are."

"But, he let you finish the job, right?"

"Of course he did." Natalie assured him, giving him a look, thinking why he would even as that. If Turner had announced the whole "they aren't agents" thing, Natalie probably wouldn't be walking through this creepy forest with Jake.

The sun finally dipped behind the horizon, not that long into their walk, and the entire woods grew nearly pitch black, with just their meager flashlights to give them some kind of guidance through the woods. However, walking around in the dark can do things with someone's vision and Natalie felt like the trees were growing taller and as they continued walking, it felt like the trees were growing in closer to them. It made her feel almost claustrophobic. They had made it towards the center of the entire area when they could hear footsteps.

Natalie threw her arm to the side, hitting Jake, forcing him to stop and he mouthed the word '_ow'_. "Do you hear that?" Natalie asked.

Jake looked where Natalie was staring, which was the area directly in front of them. But, he could hear it. It sounded like heavy footsteps were crunching down on the leaves that decorated the ground. "Yeah."

"That sounds too heavy to be some animal." Natalie observed quickly.

They both scanned the area with their flashlights. The light beams hitting nothing but trees and various broken branches. Their beams finally met together, facing the direction in front of them and they caught the slight movement of something running from them. Natalie reacted quickly and began to chase after the thing.

"Nad!" Jake called out to her before reluctantly running after her. "You don't even know if that was it!"

"I'm gonna take my chances." Natalie called back to him.

Their pursuit eventually proved to showcase that Natalie was right. They were able to see the figure, doing a fairly good job with dodging their flashlights, but the few times that the thing was seen, it was able to ensure Jake and Natalie that they were chasing the right thing. It didn't take long for them to lose sight of the creature, but they still continued on with the same path that they had been running on. One thing that they both realized, this thing was really fast. Natalie had never encountered a creature that moved like that. Natalie and Jake had a hard time keeping up with it, only having their gut instinct to tell them which way to run. When they reached a small open patch, Jake finally decided that they needed to stop and try to re-orient their plan.

"Nad. Stop...stop." Jake reached out and grasped her shoulder, slowing down at the same time she did. The heavy breathing was coming from both of them was all that they could hear. Natalie looked around the area, a visible look of frustration was written across her face.

"Damn." She whispered. "We were on its trail. Then...I lost site of it not to far back."

"That thing was freaking fast." Jake exhaled, his hand rested against his stomach. He was never much of a fan for running, but he always manages to keep his own when it's required.

"There was nothing in my dad's journal about this thing being fast." Natalie said, a little exasperated by the fact. "Why didn't he write that down?"

"Well, like you said..." Jake had to pause and take in a few more breaths, feeling his sides starting to cramp. "Your dad wrote down that he didn't actually hunt one. It was just information that he gathered from several hunters."

Natalie raised her arms up. "What did the hunter forget to tell my dad that crucial detail? That this thing is a freaking speed runner." Natalie lowered her arms, allowing them to hang as she took in some deep breaths. "Did you get a good look at it?"

"Yeah." Jake's expression showed a hint of disturbance as he began to recollect what he remembered. "It looked way too human. I mean, the thing runs and it...it just looked like an ordinary person."

"Did you get a good look at the face though?" Natalie asked.

Jake shook his head, immediately turning curious when he saw the look on Natalie's face. "Why?"

Natalie huffed out a breath. "Just for a second, I was able to see its face. I didn't get to see much of the details, but...its eyes." She motioned at her face and her lips formed into a frown. "There was nothing for its eyes...it was just empty."

Jake gave a visible shiver, his heavy breathing had diminished fairly quickly. "And that thing is out here still. Or...it could be hiding. It knows that were on its trail...if I were this thing, I would be hiding out somewhere by now."

"But where?" Natalie's eyes narrowed as she scanned the area again. "Come on."

Natalie led the way, both of them venturing forward, in the same direction where they were about half sure the creature run in. The open patch was actually larger than they had originally thought. After walking for about five minutes, they found that the patch was starting to merge back into a thick brush. Natalie and Jake paused, shining their lights through the tightly compacted trees, barely able to see anything. Natalie quickly noticed the remnants of what looked like some kind of well.

"Jake." She walked over to the structure, pulling away the broken branches that were strewn across the opening. Once the opening was clear, they both shined their lights down the well, seeing that the drop wasn't that big. Natalie angled her light, trying to see as much as she could. "It actually looks like there might be something down there." She said, looking back up at Jake.

He patted his coat pockets and then held the flashlight with his mouth. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a flare, pulled off the cap and dropped it down the well. The flare bounced off of a small foundation and landed on the ground, which was probably only about a foot down from the foundation.

"There's definitely something down there." Natalie hoisted herself up onto the well's wall, her legs hung down the hole and then she pushed herself off. She landed on the foundation and crouched down, finding herself staring down what looked like some kind of tunnel. "Alright Jake, come on down." Natalie said back up to him.

Stepping off of the foundation, Natalie raised her flashlight backup and could hear Jake making his way down. He walked up and stood behind Natalie, both of them pulling out their machetes from their beltlines.

"You think the lovely Pied Piper is in here?" Jake's voice echoed throughout the tunnel, despite the fact he had kept his voice very low.

"Possibly."

"Well...after you then." Jake commented.

Natalie paused and turned to look at Jake, who gave her a faint shrug to which she only rolled her eyes. After leveling her flashlight, Natalie began to make the careful trek down the dirt tunnel. Her back was starting to act up, since the tunnel wasn't that high, they both were walking in a slight crouch. A few feet from the well's opening, Natalie and Jake rounded a corner and came upon and open room and it allowed them to straighten their backs. However, the site they were greeted with wasn't exactly pleasant. Several instruments were gathered together in one corner of the room, while everywhere else, there were broken bone pieces scattered about.

"I think we definitely found it's hiding place." Natalie commented, blinking slightly as Jake lit up another flare and tossed it to the middle of the room. Everything around them lit up in an intense red glow and when Natalie looked towards her left, she felt her adrenaline shoot up. "Jake." She quickly rushed over to a hole that had been dug into the dirt wall. There was Mia, her hands and feet were tied and her clothes were dirty from lying on cold dirt. Natalie crawled into the hole and pressed her hand against the girl's neck, feeling for any sign that she was still alive.

"She's alive. But, her pulse is pretty weak." Natalie then pressed her hand against Mia's cheek, feeling how cold she was. "She's cold. Jake we need to get her out of here. Do you have your pocket knife?"

"Yeah, here."

Natalie turned to look at Jake, when her heart stopped at seeing a dark figure standing behind him. "Jake look out!" Natalie called out.

Jake turned and was not able to fully take in the appearance of the creature before he was flung across the room, his body making a heavy impact against the dirt wall. Natalie, in her own surprise, dropped her flashlight and felt the creature grab her leg and dragged her out of the hole. As she fell against the ground, the creature braced its hand around her neck and lifted her up. Her machete was somewhere, she had lost the grip when the creature attacked. Natalie kicked as hard as she could, feeling her foot making contact with the creature's body, where exactly, she didn't know. The hold around her neck disappeared faltered only slightly and she was violently thrown into the wall, her body falling on a pile of bones.

She could feel the creature grab the back of her coat. In a quick act of panic, Natalie grabbed a piece of bone that had been the closest to her hand. As she was lifted up. Natalie stabbed the bone shard into the creature's shoulder. It didn't like it at all. A vain, chilling howl came from the thing and it threw a hit across Natalie's face, the taste of iron quickly flooded her mouth. Natalie saw that the thing was about to take another hit at her, enabling her to dodge it and she pulled the bone out of it's shoulder and stabbed it again, she assumed it might have been around the same area. When she went to stab it again, her arm was deflected and another hit grazed across her face. The blood that filled her mouth increased and she eventually had to spit some of it out.

Looking up, Natalie could see the thing about to have another go at her when Jake began to shoot off rounds into the creature's back. He had gained its attention and Natalie knew he was trying to buy her some time to find her machete. Jake's machete was somewhere in this room, but he had no time to look for it. While the creature was busy with Jake, Natalie quickly crawled back over to the hole, where Mia was and the whole fight had stirred her from her sleep, but she was only half conscious. Natalie stood up and took the machete, which was lying on the ground, near the entrance to where Mia was.

Turning around, the flare was starting to grow dim and Natalie knew that she had to move fast. Taking in a quick assessment of what was going on, the creature had Jake pinned up against the wall and she had direct access to its back. Raising the machete, Natalie strode over and embedded the weapon into the creature's upper back. The grip on Jake loosened and he quickly slipped away from the creature enabling Natalie to push the weapon all the way through the creature's body. Natalie the pulled the weapon out and the creature slowly turned to look at them, causing them both to stumble back. It was dying, they both could see it, but it was taking a lot longer than they would like. The Piper's eyes began to drip with thick black ooze and the noises it was making sounded disgusting, like a garbling groan. Natalie gave the creature a disgusted look and then swung the machete at the creature's neck, slicing its head off. The head and body both slumped to the ground and noises ceased immediately.

Natalie turned to look at Jake and could see him giving her a surprised look. "What?" She asked, defensively. "The thing wouldn't die. So, I just sped up the process."

Jake saw her mouth covered in blood and he gave a small cringe. "Are you okay?"

Natalie wiped at the blood with her sleeve and nodded. "Yeah. It's not a big deal. How about you?"

Jake cringed and massaged at his right shoulder. "I think I might have bruised my shoulder pretty badly when it threw me."

Natalie gave his shoulder a small pat, immediately regretting it when she saw him cringe. "Sorry. Well, let's get Mia and get out of this place."

Jake and Natalie walked back over to Mia, who was still trying to regain full consciousness. After cutting the binds, Jake gently pulled her into his arms until he had her in a firm hold and then motioned for Natalie to follow. When they reached the opening, Natalie climbed out first and then waited for Jake to pass up Mia.

"You need help getting out?" She asked, with Mia in her arms.

"No. I got it." Jake commented and he was right. He was out of the well within a matter of seconds.

Natalie quickly took and assessment of Mia, feeling that she was a lot colder than before. "Jake, she's freezing."

"Here." He quickly pulled off his jacket and handed it to Natalie, who gently wrapped the eleven year old in the garment.

As Natalie was bundling her up, Mia was able to fully wake and she stared up at Natalie with wide eyes, clearly still scared from having been stuck in a well for two days. Natalie offered her a warm smile. "It's okay. We're here to help you. We're gonna get you out of here, okay?"

Mia seemed too exhausted to try and put up any kind of fuss. Plus, she seemed to trust Natalie enough. She secured her arms around Natalie's neck and Natalie stood up, her arms holding Mia in a firm hold. She couldn't help but smile at Mia resting her head against her shoulder. Looking around, Natalie blew out a breath. "You think that we'll be able to find our way back by ourselves?"

Jake bit down on his lip and then gave an unsure nod. "I think we might be able to find our way back."

"You think we should call the station. Let them know that we found her and they might be able to get to her parents as well."

"Yeah. I'll call them." Jake casted a quick glance at the girl in Natalie's arms. "I think it would be a good idea to get her to the hospital. I'll call the station once we get there."

"Okay."

* * *

Natalie was in a really good mood. They solved the case, found Mia alive and she was reunited with her family. Natalie was beyond happy. Granted, she was always happy when she finished a case with success. But, there was something different about this one. Seeing how relieved her parents were when they saw her at the hospital and having them thank her and Jake several times, it was something she would never forget. When it came to cases involving kids, Natalie always feels like the pay off is always a little more special. That's probably just the maternal side of her.

After hearing that Mia was going to be fine and was thanked one last time by her family, Natalie and Jake headed back for the motel. It was only about 10:45 and Jake was absolutely beat, not to mention the fact that his shoulder was killing him. Natalie forced him to get checked out by a doctor. They were at the hospital, might as well. Luckily, it wasn't fractured or dislocated, Jake was just going to have a really nice bruise there for awhile. Instead of going to bed, Natalie told Jake that she was going out for a bit, said that she would be back a little later. Jake would have put up an argument, but he was too tired and passed out before she even left.

Natalie drove over to Howell's bar. She knew that the place was open, but when she pulled into the parking lot, it was empty, save for about one car, which Natalie assumed was Alex's. Natalie had been thinking about what Jake said to her earlier. About how she was being paranoid about how Alex felt about seeing her and it bothered Natalie that she hardly exchanged words with her. If anything, that only made it seem like Natalie didn't want to see Alex and not the other way around.

Blowing out a sigh, Natalie turned off the ignition and got out of the car and walked up to the doors. Upon opening, Natalie saw that the place was practically empty, except for two people who were just getting ready to leave. She quietly slipped into the building and nodded at the people as they walked by her and made her way towards the bar. Natalie saw Alex, her back was facing her and it looked like she was cleaning glasses.

"Hey." Natalie finally spoke up.

Alex turned and flashed Natalie her brilliant smile. "Nice to see you back."

Natalie raised her brows. "Really?"

Alex pretended to look offended. "Yes, really." She smiled again and set the glass down. "So, how did the whole case go?"

Natalie nodded and went to sit at one of the bar stools. "It went well. We found Mia. Alive."

Alex breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank god. So, who was culprit this time?"

Natalie laughed, she still couldn't get over it. "You're not gonna believe it."

"Try me." Alex lightly challenged.

"It was called...a Pied Piper."

Alex's reaction was a lot more expressive then Natalie's when she learned about the creature. Her eyes scrunched up and her lips curled into a smile, but Natalie could see the small disbelief cross over her face. "The Pied Piper?" Alex questioned. "Like, the Pied Piper from Hamelin?"

Natalie nodded. "Well..." She quickly reconsidered. "I mean it wasn't full on Pied Piper, but, it uses a flute to lure in its victims. That's how Mia was able to just walk out of the house and also why there was no sign of forced entry."

"Wait, was that thing responsible for the past disappearances?"

Natalie nodded.

"At least you got the thing." Alex replied, honestly. "So, where's Jake?"

"He's back at the motel. His shoulder got a little bruised so I told him to just sleep."

"Well. Since you were able to solve this case...what do you want?" Alex gestured at the bar. "It's on me."

Natalie smiled at the genuine offer. "You don't have to."

Alex merely shrugged off Natalie's statement. "Just a little treat. You like you could use it."

Natalie couldn't exactly argue with that, plus drinking something would help get the taste of blood out of her mouth. While at the hospital, Natalie had rinsed out her mouth and noticed that she had a fairly good sized cut on her bottom lip. It wasn't that big of a deal, she's been shot and stabbed before. A little cut on the lip is nothing compared to that.

"Fine." Natalie lightly relented. "Just a beer, I'm not ready to go back on the hard liquor."

Alex furrowed her brows as she pulled out Natalie a Corona and popped off the cap. "Is there a story behind that kind of declaration?"

"I had a really bad hangover a couple of weeks ago. It was probably the worst hangover I've ever had. Basically, I thought it would be a good idea to just...drown myself in alcohol that night."

"Oh." Alex hummed, sympathetically and then chuckled to herself. "I've had many of those before. Are you a lightweight?"

"Not really. But, I've learned to know where my limit is. It's just that one time, I just decided to go overboard."

"Well, I don't mean to be pushy, but, why did you come down here?"

Natalie gave Alex a confused look.

"Not to sound rude but you look really tired." That was actually putting it very lightly. "You should be back at the motel getting some rest, instead of drinking at the bar."

There was no harshness in Alex's voice, Natalie was only able to detect concern. Alex was an interesting person. She was acting like nothing had happened, there were no signs of leftover anger or hate. It was like she had moved on completely. Then, Natalie thought back to what Jake had said to her earlier about Alex having no problem being around her. Natalie was the one acting quiet and withdrawn. And, as much as it annoyed her to think it, Jake was right. Natalie was just simmering in her own paranoia and stubbornness. She came back down here to try and mend up the remaining patches.

"I actually came down here because I wanted to apologize." Alex looked like she was about to say something, but Natalie continued. "I know it seemed like I didn't really want to talk with you and I was being really...withdrawn. That's because I literally had no idea what to say. Honestly, I never thought that I was going to see you again. And then...Jake and I just happen to meet up at a bar where you are working at. I don't know. It just threw me for a loop."

"You don't have to apologize for that Natalie. And if it makes you feel any better, it was the same for me." Alex answered. "I never thought I would see you either. So, you can say I was beyond surprised to see you guys down here in Oregon."

"Why did you move down here anyway?"

Alex simply shrugged, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal, but Natalie could see her eyes grow dark with pain. "Omaha became...really hard to live in. I sold most of his stuff, aside from a few personal items, which I put into a storage facility. The house is up for sale and I just felt like I was suffocating down there. Then, a family friend, who lives up here, offered to fly me out, just to have some time away from it. I ended up helping around here at the bar and I actually really liked it...so I moved and he offered me a job."

"I don't blame you for moving. It's actually really nice up here. Plus, I can't imagine staying in the same place where someone you loved died."

"I'm guessing you had the same kind of thought too."

"Kind of." Natalie sighed heavily. "My mom died and our house got destroyed. We really had no choice but to leave." A tightness began to constrict in Natalie's throat and she quickly cleared it away with a cough. "Still. I couldn't fathom staying there. It would've been too much."

Alex nodded solemnly. "Listen. Now that you're here, I need to apologize to you."

"What for?" Natalie asked, looking completely baffled by Alex's statement.

"When we were all at the cabin, I put all of the blame onto you."

Natalie shook her head, her eyes fixating on the beer in front of her. "You don't need to apologize for that Alex. Honestly, I deserved it."

"No, you didn't." Alex replied, adamantly. "Look. People always say that grief can make you do stupid things and make you say things that you don't mean. I just needed something to push all of my anger on. And considering the fact that I was still trying to wrap my mind around the whole, monster's are real, thing...you were next on the list."

"I still blame myself." Natalie tapped her finger against the bottle. "I haven't forgotten what happened and I never will."

"I know." Alex nodded. "But, don't blame yourself. It's been well over a month and I've had time to clear my head and think about what happened." Alex then let out a small laugh at a thought that suddenly came up. "Really. I owe Dean as well."

At this, Natalie shot her head up in immediate attention. "Why's that?"

"It's something he said back at the cabin. He told me that I had every right to be angry...but, I need to direct it at the right thing. That leviathan killed my uncle Natalie, not you. And it took me a while to fully understand that. I don't blame you Natalie. And I hope you can start doing the same."

"Maybe." Natalie murmured. "I've always been good at putting blame on myself. It's a little trait that I never got around to shaking."

"Maybe it's time for you to start trying."

How right she was. Natalie had been victimized by her own self-deprecating, ever since her dad died. She never made an attempt to think better of herself, or to stop blaming herself for everything that happened. Most people would probably think that she was trying to live in her own self-drama. That wasn't the case. She had lived with that kind of mindset for a while, she grew accustomed to it. Why would she want to change something that she was familiar with? Even if it meant being hard on herself.

"Let's try and move on from that subject." Alex's statement cut through Natalie's thoughts. "I was wondering, the research that my uncle did for you...was there any kind of results?"

"Not as much as I was hoping for. It was just this piece of paper with 'written word of' scrawled on it. Come to find out, he meant to write written word of God."

"Written word of God." Alex repeated the words. "Did you guys manage to find out what that was?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah. And it actually gave us something fairly big. It refers to a series of tablets that the Scribe wrote for God during the creation period. Apparently, one of the tablets are about the leviathan."

"That sounds like it can be a really big help for you guys."

"Except." Natalie took a quick drink from her bottle and bit down on her bottom lip. "We have no idea what's on the tablet and better yet, we have no idea where it is."

Alex silently exhaled. "That is a big problem. Can't your angel friends find it or wouldn't they know what's written on them."

"Unfortunately, no. Caden told me that none of the angels know where the tablets are or what's written on them. The only people who know this is God and the Scribe."

"Just when you think that you have something, you get thrown back to the start."

"Tell me about." Natalie washed a hand down her face. "Bobby's gathered so many books and they've been going through them, trying to find something. Of course, there's nothing."

"Well, I'm sure that you guys will find something." Alex voiced her own assurance on the matter. "You all seem like a group of people who can figure anything out."

Natalie raised her brows and smiled. "I appreciate the enthusiasm."

Alex suddenly glanced down at her watch and frowned. "Sorry, I have to go and make sure that the back is locked up. I'll be right back."

Natalie nodded and settled for finishing up her beer. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be drinking at all, but it was a nice sentiment for Alex to offer it to her for free. Natalie vaguely heard the doors to the bar open, but she paid no attention to it. Although, her attention was caught when she saw a guy sit down right next to her.

"It's getting pretty cold out there." He cheerily commented.

Natalie gave him a faint smile when he looked at her, which was only for a brief moment. Her brows creased as she looked back at the liquor racks. At first, she felt a little perplexed, there were several other places for this guy to sit and he chose to sit right next to her. A little strange, but she wasn't going to raise hell about it. When she looked back over at him, Natalie noticed that the guy had a stoic stature about himself. It seemed a little odd to her.

"I don't think I've ever seen you here before." He commented. "You new in town? Or just here for a job?"

Natalie cleared her throat. "Just here for a job."

"Does it require you to travel?"

Natalie nodded and smile. "Yeah. I travel a lot."

"Yeah. I travel as well. Although, it's been taking a real toll on me, lately."

Natalie hummed. "I'm guessing the job isn't that easy."

"No." He shook his head. "I've been searching for this guy. He kind of blew me and my associates off. We're just trying to settle our issues with him."

"Sorry to hear that." Natalie said, trying to sound as sincere as she could before resuming her beer drinking.

"Although." The man spoke up once again. "I do think that you can help me find him."

Natalie paused her drinking and looked at him, perplexed. "I don't think that I would be able to help you. I don't even know you."

"Oh." The man shook his head and gazed down at the bar counter. "You may not know me, but you definitely know the man I'm looking for."

Natalie shook her head and was about to say something, when her eyes settled on the angel blade that was poking out of the man's jacket. Her expression fell and her entire face tensed. Time began to slow and her heartbeat pounded inside her chest, it was so loud she could here it pulsating through her ears. Placing her beer down, Natalie hesitantly stood up from her seat and began to slowly back away.

"This man killed my brothers and escaped when he wasn't supposed to. And he needs to answer for that."

Natalie felt her chest tighten and her breathing felt like it had become non-existent. Just the thought of exhaling seemed to be a bad choice right now. Usually, she never had this kind of feeling around angels. But, knowing the situation with Caden and the fact that pretty much all the angels hate him, made this extremely alarming to her.

The man finally turned in his seat to face Natalie. "I'm looking for Caden, Natalie. It's time for him to own up to his choices."

Natalie felt a pair of hands grab onto her arms and she looked back to see another man, knowing he was an angel and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "This can't be happening."

"I'm sorry. But, it is." The man stood up from the stool and casually walked over to her.

Natalie gave him a hardened glare. "So, which angel are you?"

"Oh, of course. I can't forget my manners, right?" He flashed her a smile. "My name is Daniel."

Natalie's glare faltered and a look of recognition flashed across her face and it was easily detected by Daniel. He nodded his head, clearly pleased that she recognized him. "So, you know who I am. I'm guessing Caden was the one who informed you on what's going on."

"Only that a few angels are trying to win the big prize upstairs."

"Precisely. Ever since Castiel's violent rampage in heaven, it's been nothing but anarchy. With no one to lead us, all of the angels are lost. Someone needs to take the reins."

Natalie scoffed. "Please, spare me the same freaking speech. I get it. Angels suck at exisitng without having someone to hold your leashes. That's pretty pathetic in my book. Plus, I thought the only suitable person to rule you guys is God"

"Well, God is no longer in the picture. He hasn't been for quite sometime." Daniel retorted. "But, the whole bit up in heaven is not what I'm concerned about. Caden is. He's killed several of our brothers and escaped from heaven. He can't walk about earth without receiving his form of punishment."

"Seriously. Why don't you just worry about your heaven election? Caden killing those angels was probably justified. He was just trying to survive and get away from you crazy dicks."

"Caden." Daniel began, his voice had become louder and more stern. "He has done some questionable things. Such as, helping Castiel with opening purgatory. Unleashing this unfortunate force on all of us. You all down here have to deal with the leviathan while up in heaven, hundreds of us were slaughtered. And it's all thanks to Castiel and your little friend."

Natalie's eyes grew dark and she tried to launch herself at him, but the angel holding her was forbidding it. "You _know_ that's not true. Caden had nothing to do with that whole thing."

"You're wrong."

Natalie ticked a half smirk. "No, I'm not."

"Well, you don't have a hold over the angels now do you. None of them are going to believe that. Caden did know what Castiel was planning on doing and he went right along with it."

"You are freaking insane." Natlaie blurted out. "That's not what he was doing. There was a reason why he stood by Cas."

"Not too keen on hearing what you have to say about that whole situation." Daniel shrugged and the smile he gave irked Natalie to her core. "I'm just trying to do the right thing for my kind."

"You know what I call that. I call that absolute bull shit."

"That is some very strong language for someone like you." Daniel lightly scolded. "But, I've been searching for Caden, for months. Came up empty handed every single time. So. You're going to help me find him."

Natalie raised her brow. "Am I really?"

Daniel gazed up in thought and then nodded his head. "Yeah. You are." He quickly raised his hand, pressed a finger against Natalie's forehead. Her legs gave out instantly and her body slumped against the angel that was holding her. She was out. Daniel looked up at the other angel and nodded.

"Hey, Natalie sorry it took me so long. There was this—" Alex walked back out from the back room and saw two men and Natalie, who was unconscious. Her eyes immediately went hard as she began to walk over to them. "What did you do to her?"

Daniel slowly turned to Alex, clearly unfazed by Alex's untimely entrance. He casted a quick glance down at the unconscious Natalie and then offered Alex a shrug. The man that had been holding onto Natalie, threw her body over his shoulder and secured her by wrapping his arm around her legs.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked again, this time she was making a fast approach towards them. "Put her down."

Daniel stood in silence, mentally thinking that it was amusing this woman was trying to challenge him. Once she was close enough, Daniel simply touched her forehead and Alex passed out, her body fell to the ground with a loud thud. Daniel inhaled and turned back to his assistant. "That was easier than I thought. Let's go."

The two men, with Natalie, suddenly disappeared, leaving an unconscious Alex splayed out across the floor.

* * *

**So what did you all think?! The angels have Natalie! And what do you all think about the whole "plan" Caden was apart of? A lot is going on and it will only partially be resolved in the next chapter! Plus, Alex is back! I missed writing her. Also, the poll on my profile is going to stay up there for a while so don't forget to check it out!**

**Review Responses:**

**The-Effulgent-One: **I am so glad that you like Nad! And I am super glad that you didn't find her story too cliche. That was one of the biggest worries while writing out her story. But, the fact that you got hooked from the start just makes me all the more happy. I hope you liked the little satalie moment in this chapter!

**minstorai: **I pretty much sent in a response through a pm, but yes, Turner wasn't exactly a character that I wanted everyone to fall in love with immediately. He just wanted to make sure that it got done right. That was the cop side of Turner. And the twist of him knowing Nad's father has been planned from the very beginning. They needed to have some kind of connection and I thought the appropriate connection would be her dad.

**January Lily: **Don't even worry about it sweetie! I totally get it! Life just gets in the way some times, I have had it happen to me on several occasions. But, I am so glad that you've finally caught up. I hate it when I fall behind on reading stories! I hope that you are happy with Alex being back in the picture! AND YES LET'S DO THE CROSSOVER WITH RILEY! I WANT TO DO IT SO BADLY! WE NEED TO START PLANNING! Satalie always gets me in a sappy mood, I love them do much and it hurts when I think about all the plans I have for them (almost all of them aren't good). But, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!


	10. Mutual Sacrifice

_A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait. I'll have a longer explanation at the end for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's not my favorite and I am not too fond of it. But I do hope you guys like it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural._

* * *

The first thing he noticed was an annoying stiffness in his right shoulder, that, and he was lying uncomfortably on his stomach. Prying his eyes open, Jake saw the alarm clock on the nightstand, in bold red numbers, _11:30. _Jake groaned and rested his head further against the pillow. He was a little surprised that Natalie didn't wake him up yet. Although, as he laid in bed thinking about it, she must've been out fairly late. Most likely she slept in as well. Either way, they were going to need to wake up soon so that they both can leave here at decent times. They both had long drives to take.

Rubbing at his nose, Jake sniffed and then groaned, moving his body in order to get the kinks out of his back. "Nad." His voice came through groggy and he cleared his throat a few times. "Nad." It was a lot clearer this time. Jake finally rolled himself onto his back and looked over at the other bed, finding that it was empty. Not only empty, it had not been slept in.

Jake rubbed at his eyes, his brows creased with confusion. "Nad?" He called out again, only to receive silence as his answer. He stiffly pushed himself up into a sitting position, a hand resting against his sore shoulder started to make gentle rubs on the area. "Where the hell are you?" He mumbled to himself.

Throwing the covers off of his body, he stood up from the bed, his knees popping in place, which he groaned at and began to take a small surveillance of the room. She wasn't in the bathroom and there was no note from her. She wouldn't just take off without leaving him some kind of note or message. That wasn't how Natalie operated and he knew that she wasn't stupid enough to try and make a twelve-hour drive with how tired she was. Checking underneath her bed, Jake found her bag and slowly pulled it out, his eyes staring at the object, face completely frozen.

_What the hell? _Her bag was still here and she was not in the motel room. Standing up, he quickly walked over to the window and peered out, finding that her car was not in the parking lot. Stepping back in thought, Jake began to run through possible explanations. She said that she was going to see Alex last night when they returned from the hospital. Maybe, she stayed a little longer and slept over at Alex's home? But, why wouldn't Natalie just drive back? Knowing with how awkward she felt being around Alex, Jake didn't think Natalie would take the risk and stay at Alex's home. Maybe she was drunk? And Alex forced Natalie to stay with her.

Jake shook his head, regardless of why Natalie didn't come back, he just wanted to make sure that she was alright. He retrieved his phone, which was sitting on the nightstand, and dialed out Natalie's number, only to have the call go straight to voicemail. Her phone was off or it was dead. That made Jake just a little more worried. She wasn't in the motel, her bags were still here, he has no idea where she's at and now her phone is dead. The more he thought about it, the more his worry began to grow.

He needed to go and find her. After switching out for a new pair of clothes, grabbing all of the bags, he checked out of the motel and got into his car. The only place he could start was the bar. He had no idea where Alex lived and he didn't have her number either. The drive would only take him about five minutes, however, in that span of time Jake was able to do some damage to his paranoia. Sitting in the car allowed him to run all of this through his head and it started to come out more clear. When he finally pulled into the parking lot, he saw only two cars in the lot. One was Natalie's and the other, he didn't know who owned it. He didn't know whether to feel relieved that her car was here or to be more worried.

Putting the car into park, Jake switched off the ignition and got out of the vehicle. He made a quick look over of Natalie's car, nothing was wrong, it looked completely fine. It wasn't until he got up to the doors did his mind start to go hazy. It was open, slightly ajar. That's never a good sign. Reaching for the handle, he pulled open the doors, sunlight streamed into the barely lit bar. It didn't take him long to see Alex, strewn out on the floor and he quickly ran to her side, dropping to his knees.

"Alex?" Jake braced his hand against her face and pressed his fingers against her neck. There was a pulse. He blew out a quick relieved breath. "Alex." Jake gently shook her by the shoulder, seeing that she was starting to come to. "Hey. Alex. Take it easy."

Alex groaned and with the help from Jake, pushed herself up. "Ow..." She hissed, pressing her hand to the left side of her head and she took a quick look around before finally settling on Jake. "What happened?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Jake answered.

Alex looked down in thought, this massive headache from her head hitting the ground when she fell wasn't helping with her thinking. She seemed delirious. But, she was actually looking around the bar. Trying to recollect what had happened last night and that's when her body froze and straightened. Jake noticed this and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Alex?"

She snapped her gaze over to him, eyes wide. "Where's Nad? Did you find her?"

Jake was surprised at how erratic her words were. "No. I woke up and she wasn't at the motel."

Alex closed her eyes and slowly shook her head.

"That's why I came here. To see if you knew where she was."

"Oh god." Alex whispered, vainly. "You need to find...you need to find her...I don't know..."

Alex still seemed a little out of it and her hand pressed up to her head told Jake just that. Standing up, he pulled over a chair and gently took hold of her arm. "Here. Let's get you in this chair. Come on."

Alex took it slowly, with the help from Jake and gently sat down in the chair as Jake knelt down in front of her.

"Okay. Alex?" Jake waited until he saw that he had her attention. "What did you mean we need to find her? What happened?"

Alex faintly shook her head, trying to push through the headache she was being bombarded with. "I, uh, passed out...at least, I think I did...and Natalie..."

Jake raised his brows as Alex's voice tapered off. "Alex." He was able to bring her attention back to him. "What happened? Where's Nad?"

"There...there were these two guys...and..." Alex paused to take in a breath. "One of them had...Natalie."

"They had Nad?" Jake asked, needing to hear it again to make sure that it was clear.

Alex nodded. "She was...she was passed out and I... I tried to stop them but then...I just passed out." Alex looked up at Jake, her expression turning grim. "They took her."

Jake straightened his back, his hand covering his mouth as he began to strategize what to do next.

Two men took Natalie. Who? Was it two leviathans? _Oh shit. _Jake pulled out his phone and began to dial out a number. He didn't know exactly what he was going to say, but he had to inform them.

_"Yeah." _Dean's voice came through the other end. Jake had been rendered speechless, his heart was pounding and he felt almost nauseous. Natalie was missing. _"Hello?" _

Jake shook his head. "Dean."

_"Jake? What's up?" _

"I don't know exactly how to make this easy."

_"You know, when you start with something like that, I know that it's gonna be bad." _

"You have no idea." Jake whispered. "Dean. Nad's gone."

_"What do you mean she's gone?" _

"Exactly what you think I mean. She's not here."

_"How is she not there? I thought that she was with you the entire time."_

"She went out when we got back to the motel last night and she never came back. She's not here."

Dean was silent on the phone for a good minute. _"Where are you at? Are you still down in Oregon?" _

"Yes. Dean, some guys took her."

_"Alright."_ Jake could hear Dean pacing around through the phone. _"Oregon is about a twelve-hour drive so...you know what? That's too long to wait for you." _

Jake shrugged up his shoulders. "What else do you expect me to do?" Jake could hear Dean talking in the background, but he couldn't make out exactly what he was saying.

_"Okay, Jake. I'm sending a friend over there right now." _

Jake furrowed his brows. "What?"

Right as the word left his mouth, Jake saw a young woman appear in front of him and he eyed her for a moment. "Let me guess. Angel?"

Sarah nodded and stepped forward. "My name is Sarah."

"Well, nice to meet you Sarah." Jake looked down at the phone in his hands and ended the call without saying anything else to Dean. When in reality the latter probably had already ended the conversation anyway.

Sarah had scouted out the bar, feeling like there was something lingering in the air. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. "What happened?" She asked.

Jake shrugged and looked down at Alex, who was still trying to come through the terrible headache she had. "I don't know. I walk in here and she's passed out on the ground."

"Well, Dean wanted me to bring you to him." Sarah added. "I suppose we should take her with us."

"Obviously." Jake pointed out. "She knows more than I do."

"Very well." Sarah nodded. "We should go then."

Jake nodded. He moved towards Alex and gently took hold of her arm. She approached both of them, placed her hands on their shoulders bringing both Alex and Jake back to the cabin. Alex was taken aback from it and she looked quickly around her.

Finally, she breathed out in her resolve. "Right. Angel." She whispered.

"Alex?"

Jake and Alex both looked up, seeing Dean, Sam and Caden looking at them, both completely surprised that Alex was with them. "Nice to see you again." She quietly commented as Jake helped her into a chair.

"Alright. Jake. You mind telling us exactly what happened?" Dean didn't waste time. He wanted to make sure that they spent all of their time trying to find out where Natalie was, not just sitting around.

Jake nodded and rubbed his chin. "Right. Um. So, last night, Nad and I got back to the motel a little late. But, she said that she was going to visit Alex at the bar, where she worked."

Dean and Sam both raised their brows. Jake only nodded, silently conveying that he would let Alex explain that. "Anyways. I fall asleep. When I woke up today, she wasn't at the motel. Her bed hadn't been slept in and her bag was still there. So, I went out to the bar to see if she was there and...I found her car parked in the lot. I walk in and Alex was lying on the ground and Nad was nowhere."

"She's not just nowhere." Alex suddenly spoke up, the three hunters turned their attentions towards her.

"What do you mean, Alex?" Sam asked.

"Last night. Nad came to see me and I went to the back to lock up." Alex exhaled and ran a hand down the side of her face. "I come back and there were these two guys...one of them was holding Natalie and she was unconscious." Alex timidly looked up at Sam, Dean and Jake. "I tried to stop them. I don't know what the hell I would've done but...I tried getting to her and I just...passed out."

Dean raised his brows and expected Alex to continue with the explanation, but she didn't. "Passed out? You just dropped for no reason?"

Alex looked down, trying to gather the cluttering thoughts from last night. "I-I don't know. That's all I am able to recall."

"Okay. Then let's start a little smaller." Dean walked around and pulled over a chair so that he could sit in front of Alex. "Do you remember what the guys looked like?"

Alex spotted Caden and Sarah, who were standing next to each other, casting wary glances at each other. She couldn't help but feel a little curious about it. Alex couldn't help but feel like they knew something about this. "Um. The guy who had Natalie...I don't exactly remember what he looked like. But the other one, he was about your height..." She pointed at Dean, who nodded for her to continue. "And he had black hair and it was in like a comb over and he had facial hair and..."

Alex paused and looked up in thought, which made everyone lean in a little closer, waiting for her to continue. "Actually. He wasn't that bad looking."

Dean allowed his head to hang and everyone else collectively sighed. "Alex. Stay on track." Dean urged.

"Right." Alex nodded her apology. "That's all I remember."

"Okay." Dean sat in his chair, settling over Alex's description and account of what had happened. "So. Two guys take Nad." He stood up from the chair and turned to face Sam, Caden and Sarah. "Could it possibly be demons?"

"Why would the demons take Nad?" Sam questioned.

But, Dean only shrugged. "We don't know what's going on with Crowley. Maybe he's coming up with some scheme and maybe he's using Nad for something."

"Or...maybe it's not demons at all." Sam offered.

"It's not demons." Sarah spoke up. There was something about the way that place felt when she went to retrieve Alex and Jake. She could feel something that was familiar and she couldn't exactly establish what it was. But, it has been bugging her and she does have a theory.

"I think I _may_ know who took Natalie." Sarah added. "But, I'm going to need to check something." She made her way over to Alex and knelt down in front of her.

Dean turned to the angel and placed his hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Sarah slightly turned her head to the side, spotting Dean in the corner of her vision. "Just give me a moment." Sarah eyed Dean's hand, silently telling him to let go, which he did, hesitantly. Turning her attention back to Alex, she could see the confusion seeping from her gaze. "If it's alright..." Sarah raised her hands up towards Alex's head, silently asking the question again.

Alex was able to catch on fairly quickly to what Sarah was implying. She had no idea who this angel was, this was their first time meeting. But, if it would help finding out where Natalie is, then Alex is all for it. "Go ahead. Do...whatever it is you're about to do."

Sarah nodded, her fingers pressed gently against the sides of Alex's head. Memories. That's all Sarah was hit with the minute she started looking. She could see Alex's childhood, her parents, family, the countless time she's moved homes after the death of her parents. Her uncle and how he was beaten by a leviathan. Sarah tried her best to skip past all of the memories she didn't need to see. Sometimes, she can't force aside every single one of them. She kept on pushing forward until she came to the memory that she had been seeking. Natalie, unconscious and in the arms of one man, a man that Sarah immediately recognized and then the face that she didn't know. The one that Alex gave the description of and commented on his physical looks. As quick as the memory came, it was gone.

Pulling her hands away, Sarah stared at Alex, eyes widened and mouth slightly agape and she leaned away, her arms falling into her lap.

Alex had only been temporarily compromised from the action. If anything, she felt worn out and tired. What she felt, it wasn't exactly something that she could describe with words. A person would have to go through it themselves to understand.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked.

Sarah didn't respond. Only her expression read that she looked...panicked. Could angels feel panic? Alex just thought of them as being emotionless. Turns out there's still more for her to learn about this crazy new world that she's still trying to familiarize herself with.

"Sarah?" Dean asked, she wasn't talking, all she was doing was sitting in the same position. "Sarah, what is it? Did you see something?"

Sarah's mouth snapped shut and her eyes looked down, scanning the ground aimlessly as she stood back up to her feet. "I saw the two men that Alex told us about." She turned to look at the others. "And I recognized one of them."

"Okay, who is it?" Sam asked.

Sarah glanced over at Caden, slowly shaking her head, silently commuting the thought to him and Caden's body froze. "It's Henry."

Dean and Sam both furrowed their brows at her answer. But, also the reaction they were witnessing from Caden and Sarah. They knew who this guy was.

"Henry?" Dean asked. "Who's Henry?"

"He's an angel that is working for Daniel." Caden answered. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Caden could feel his pulse increase, the shock was numbing every part of his body.

"Okay. So, wait..." Dean took a moment to gather his thoughts. "So. Daniel has Nad?"

"I'm afraid so." Sarah answered quietly.

Sam was beyond confused. This didn't make any sense. "Why would the angels take Nad? There's no reason for them to need anything from her."

Sarah and Caden both remained silent, neither dared to look in the other one's eyes. They both had a theory but it wasn't logical to them.

"It's because of me." Caden answered. Both Sam and Dean turned their attentions to him. "I escaped from Heaven. Killed several other angels. I've been walking around here, hiding, trying to evade punishment. They've been trying to find me. I'm guessing, Natalie is their next plan on getting me to surrender."

"Wait a minute..." Dean raised his hand up in thought. "If they have Nad, can't you two just track down her location go in and zap her out of there."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Sarah said.

"What do you mean?" Dean turned to the angel. "Of course it's that simple. You two are freaking angels. You can find her."

"No, Dean. They are hiding her location." Sarah responded, making Dean go quiet. "I have been trying to pick out where she is, but they have her locked down somewhere. I can't get any kind of tracking on her."

"That doesn't make any sense." Sam commented, his hand brushed through his hair in his growing frustration. "If the angels wanted to use Nad, as a way to get Caden out of hiding...why would they hide her location? They leave it open, it would allow Caden to just pop over and get her. Why would they do this?"

_It's all because of the plan. _Caden and Sarah were both thinking the same exact thing. However, it didn't make any kind of sense to them. There were only a small group of angels who knew about the plan. No other angel knew about it. When Sarah looked at Caden, she honestly didn't know what to make of this. Neither of them did. However, the looks they were exchanging were picked up on by Sam and Dean.

"Is there something you two aren't telling us?" Dean was being adamant. He wanted to find out where Natalie was and go get her. He didn't want to waste any time. "Well?" He tried again.

"What makes you think that we may know anything?" Caden was testing Dean. He didn't have the nerve to come clean about what was going on behind the curtains. If anything, Caden wanted to avoid telling the truth to Sam and Dean.

"You two have these looks on your faces. Like you know something that we don't." Dean clarified. "So, are you going to tell us?"

"There's nothing." Sarah answered, her voice was low and held out a warning to Dean. _Stop asking about it. _"Caden and I are just as lost in all of this as you two are."

"And why do I have a little bit of a hard time believing that." Dean was just pushing Sarah's buttons. His goal was to actually see if Caden and Sarah knew anything more.

"Alright. This isn't going to help us find Nad." Sam had to step in before an all-out argument ensued between the two of them. And the last thing they need is a fight between Dean and an angel. "We just need to figure out another way of finding her."

* * *

Stale, muggy air. That was the first thing Natalie was greeted with when she finally woke up. The air was also cold, almost bitingly cold and her entire body was aching. The rest of her sense hit her all at once and it didn't take her long to realize that she was sitting in a chair. Natalie tried moving her body, finding that she was tied down in the chair. Bindings around her wrists and ankles. She was stuck.

Natalie pulled on both her arms and feet, seeing if there was any way of loosening the confines, no such luck. Blowing out a breath, Natalie looked up, a little taken back from her surroundings. From what she was able to gather, she was in some kind of abandoned warehouse. And the room she was in, wasn't that big and there was a man standing near a door.

Images from the night before flashed through Natalie's mind. Being confronted by Daniel was the last thing Natalie had expected to happen. And now, he has her locked up in some god forsaken building to try and lure Caden out. She just prays that he won't actually fall for it. Natalie couldn't afford to worry about that right now. She needed to find out where she is and to devise a way for her to get out.

"Hey." Natalie decided that she was going to get the guy's attention. Maybe she'll get some answers if she gets him to talk. However, he didn't turn his attention towards her. He purposefully kept his gaze away from her.

"Hey." Natalie tried again, this time there was a little more force in her tone. "Hello? I know that you can hear me, so there's no point in ignoring me."

Still nothing._ Damn, angels are beyond stubborn. _"You know, if you don't answer me, I'll be forced to sing some annoying song."

The man's feet scratched against the concrete as he turned to look at her. Natalie in turn have a slow shrug and a half smile.

"Even though you angels are probably not in tune with our pop culture. Either way, I'm pretty sure you guys still get annoyed."

Natalie continued to stare at the angel, waiting for some kind of response from him, but received nothing. But, she could see something forming in his expression. "By the looks of it, you actually look a little annoyed."

"It would be in your best interest if you just...keep quiet."

Natalie hummed in her disagreement and settled against her chair. "I think I'll be able to quiet down, if I were to get some answers."

"It won't be from me."

The mundane answer that she received from the angel made her scoff. She wakes up after being rendered unconscious and Daniel doesn't even have the decency to be here when she woke up. As if on cue, the door to the room open and Natalie's eyes gazed over, seeing Daniel walk in, a smug look was etched into his features. It only made Natalie roll her eyes.

"Are you feeling alright?" Daniel slowly approached Natalie, his hands resting in his pockets.

Natalie tilted her head up in thought and pouted her lips out. "I'd say that I would feel a whole lot better if I wasn't..." She pulled at her arms and legs, hearing the ropes stretch at her straining. "…tied up to this chair."

"Oh. Yes." Daniel tapped his finger against the rope bonds that were tied around her left wrist. "This is just a precaution. Can't have you trying to create problems or try and get away."

"Oh." Natalie with her head still tilted back, her eyes then glued on him. "Why would I want to leave the brilliance that is your company?"

Daniel's smile broadened and he finished it off with an over the top hum. "Well aren't you just a real charmer."

Natalie mocked his smile and then allowed her head to lower, until she was staring straight ahead. "You know that having me tied up here is not gonna benefit you in any way."

"And why is that?" Daniel had moved around to stand in front of her.

Natalie's eyes glanced up, meeting his in a silent stare. "Sam and Dean are going to be looking for me. And I don't think you want them on your tail for kidnapping me."

"The Winchesters are at the bottom of the list of what I'm worried about. Besides, if you just cooperate with me, then...this will all go over smoothly."

"How about, you just let me go? Because you're not going to get anything from me."

"Stubborn. And loyal." Daniel nodded in his content. "No wonder why you're the one."

Natalie's expression faltered, her lips twitched downward and then her mouth opened. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you don't know, do you?" Daniel saw Natalie's glare hardened and he silently relished in the fact that he was able to tease this to her. "It's a very old...story that has been tossed around, among the angels. One that we have all been waiting to see if it would actually come true."

"A prophecy." Natalie corrected.

"No. Not, necessarily. To us it was more of an urban legend."

"Then, why don't you just tell me the whole thing?"

Daniel paused and leaned forward so that he was leveled with Natalie's gaze, his faces just inches from hers. She couldn't help but lean away from him. "There is so much more to this then you realize Natalie. There were only a few selected angels who knew about it. And there was one goal they set out to achieve. To get to you. To get you on our side."

Natalie's brows furrowed and her expression was a mix of confusion and...disgust. Mostly because Daniel was literally inches from her face, she could feel his breath brush against her skin. He was a little too close for comfort.

"A goal? Why was I your goal? I'm nothing special." She retorted, though she had made sure to turn her head so that she wasn't facing him.

"You're wrong, Natalie. You were called to do something...something that is so much bigger than your existence. A calling that was placed upon your family and it echoed all the way down to you."

"Well, that just makes me feel a whole lot better." Natalie eyed him from the corner of her vision. His eyes were just baring down on her, like he was gazing right into her soul, reading her mind.

"That's one of the reasons why Caden escaped from heaven." Daniel added before finally leaning away from Natalie.

A silent, relieved breath soon followed and she hesitantly turned her gaze back on him. "What do you mean?"

Daniel's face lightened. "Oh. You didn't know? I shouldn't be surprised. You have given him so much loyalty and faith."

"Well, he's proven to me that he's worth my trust." Natalie timidly defended her relationship with the angel.

"Caden has been sneaking behind your back from the very minute you met him Natalie. The whole time and you had no idea."

Natalie slowly shook her head, dispelling the angel's words. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Caden is different...not like the rest you angels. So self-serving and not to mention you guys are _extreme _dicks."

"And what has Caden done to get you so wrapped around his finger?" Daniel questioned.

Natalie was taken aback from his question and she shook her head. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not wrapped around Caden's finger. He's saved my life and helped us several times."

"And why do you think he did that?" Daniel's questioned rendered Natalie silent and confused. "Why do you think all of a sudden he just randomly appeared? You were his task, Natalie. Gaining your trust, was all part of the plan."

Natalie huffed out a laugh and shook her head in disbelief. "You really are going for the big guns aren't you? You just..." She shrugged. "You just really hate Caden don't you? What did he do to you that's gotten you this riled up?"

"I have my reasons. But, there is a whole group of us that are angry at him for a completely different reason. He's losing focus on the task at hand."

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Natalie lowered her gaze so that she was looking at the ground. "Caden would never lie to me."

"And how sure are you on that?"

"I'm quite sure." Natalie replied, shooting a defiant glare at Daniel, though he was able to detect the slight hesitation that was sinking in her eyes. "You don't know him."

"Really?" Daniel hummed and began to walk around Natalie. "I've known him for my entire existence. There are things about Caden that you will _never_ know Natalie. I would say that _you _don't know anything about my brother. You know that Sarah is a part of this whole thing as well, right?"

Natalie remained silent, her entire body sulked down from Daniel's words.

"Of course you didn't know." Daniel paused in front of her and took a few steps back, surveying the hunter. "You don't have to protect him. He's done nothing but lie to you. Just give me his location and this will all be over with."

"I don't break that easily."

"Then the questioning will just continue." Daniel had made it directly clear in that one statement. He had no intention of letting Natalie go until she gave him what he wanted. Actually, she wasn't even sure if he was going to let her go, regardless. From the way he has been talking to her, the angels _need _her. Now that they had her in their possession, they weren't going to let her go.

"Where's Caden?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Make this easy for all of us Natalie. Just tell us where he is."

Natalie refused to answer him, knowing that it was just going to be the same thing she had just said. Her mind was racing from what he had told her, that Caden had been using her since they first met. She didn't know whether to believe it or not. But, there was a voice in the back of her mind that was just yelling.

_I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. There was something off and I just brushed it off. I'm so stupid. _

There was a two front battle going on. One side was still holding onto hope that Daniel was lying and he was just trying to break her down. But, the other side, which was fighting back harder was berating her for even trusting him in the first place.

"Where's Caden?"

Natalie snapped her eyes closed at Daniel's question, teeth pressed into her bottom lip as she tried to sort out her own confusion to try and determine where she stood in this mind battle. Did she believe Daniel or not?

"You're confused, I know that. And you feel betrayed by him. This is the perfect excuse for you giving him up. Trust me. It will all be better in the long run."

Natalie shook her head and exhaled heavily. "Would you just shut up?!" She suddenly called out. "I'm not telling you anything!" Her eyes widened at the end of her sentence. "You're wrong about Caden, so you and all of your little angel siblings can go piss off!"

"Where is he?" Daniel tried again, completely pushing aside Natalie's remark. When she shook her head, he asked again, this time his tone had gone up a couple notches. "Tell me where he is."

Natalie shook her head, defiantly. Daniel walked forward and once again, leaned right into Natalie's face. This time they both descended into a stare down, Natalie's chest was starting to heave from her own frustration that was brewing up.

"Tell me where he is."

"No."

"Tell me."

"I said, no."

Daniel grabbed onto each of Natalie's wrists, his grip tightening in the slightest at every second. It was almost like a physical warning. _Tell me or things will get worse. _Natalie was too stubborn. For one she didn't want to bow down to Daniel's command and two, she didn't want to believe that Caden had been lying to her. It was almost too much for her to comprehend.

"Where. Is he?" Daniel's frustration was annunciated with each word and his desired effect was not met. He only received a small smirk from Natalie. "Where is he?" He called out, making her flinch at the sudden change in tone.

"Screw you!" Natalie called back, her tone equal to his but maybe a little louder.

Instead of leaving the room, which Natalie thought was going to happen, Daniel remained in his position. His eyes remained fixed on hers and his expression went numb, practically dead. And it made Natalie feel a little uneasy. That's when she began to feel a pressure starting to form in the pit of her stomach. It felt like it was just bubbling but soon the pressure became heavier and Natalie felt like her stomach was heating up. The pressure rose and she could feel something slither up her throat.

Natalie furrowed her brows, quiet groans gradually turned into coughs that got more violent. Opening her mouth to cough, Natalie gagged and felt the substance pour out of her mouth. Daniel finally leaned away, allowing Natalie to push herself forward, her head hanging down, mouth open allowing thick, dark red blood ooze out of her mouth. Natalie spit out the remnants and gagged again as another spurt of blood gathered in her mouth, forcing her to spit it out again. The pressure in her stomach had gradually turned into an intense, white pain that was flashing through her nerves. Despite the fact that she was sitting, Natalie could feel the muscles in her body tense.

"Where is he?" Daniel asked again. "You can stop this, just tell me what I need to know."

Natalie strained on a breath as the pressure rose in intensity. Blood was continuously gushing out of her throat, forcing her to spit the blood on the ground. Daniel reached behind Natalie's head, grabbed a handful of her hair and tilted her head up so that she was looking at him. Her lips were dripping with blood and faint tear stains were visible on her cheeks.

"Where is he?"

Natalie closed her mouth, gathered up what was in her mouth and spit out. The blood splattered against his face, little droplets that had settled on different parts of his face. His eyes had closed but his expression contorted into rage. It wasn't frustration anymore. It was just pure rage. She wasn't cooperating and he wasn't going to wait all day for her to crack.

"That wasn't the best choice for you to make." Daniel warned.

"Bite me." Natalie mumbled.

"Fine. Have it your way." Daniel released his hold on Natalie and stood up to walk away. As he approached the man who had been standing near the door, Natalie's gags were turning into cries as her condition seemed to be getting worse.

"Why are you so determined to find him?" Natalie struggled to get the words out, which were followed by silent gags. "It can't just be due to him killing some angels and leaving a plan."

"He was planning on keeping you away from them. The angels that swore to watch over you, until the time was right. They couldn't allow him to do that."

Natalie allowed her head to hang back down, trying to catch her breath was painful. "Why?" She breathed out. "Why did Caden stop going on with the plan?" She asked, her hands closing into tight fists as the pulsating sensation in her stomach deepened. "It must be a pretty bad reasoning."

"That's none of your concern." Daniel was quick to brush off Natalie's question. Naomi had been clear to him that he wasn't to tell her anything. Not yet. "My goal is to just find out where Caden is."

"Well, then you better settle in because you're not going to get anything from me."

"Then I am sorry."

* * *

Sarah guided Caden into one of the spare rooms at the cabin and quickly closed the door. When she turned around, Caden had already started pacing back and forth, his hands slowly washed down his face. Clearly he was in a state of panic.

"How did this happen?" He asked quietly. "I mean why? Why would Daniel take Natalie?"

Sarah went to answer but Caden groaned.

"No, I know why." He continued. "Not only to get to me but...he has to know about the plan. But how? There was only a small group of us who knew about it."

Sarah sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It has to be Naomi. I mean, think about it Caden. You told them that you were out. I knew that they wouldn't like it."

"So, you think Naomi them about the plan?" Caden paused in his own confusion. "But, why would Naomi do..." Caden cut off mid-sentence as his mind began to process the outcome. "Naomi and Daniel most likely made a deal. Naomi would give him all of the information about me and in exchange..."

"Daniel would give up Natalie." Sarah finished.

"This is a switch off. There is no win for us here, Sarah. If I turn myself over to them, they are not going to hand Natalie over."

"What do you want to do then?"

Caden was lost. He had no idea what they needed to do next. Nearly every single one of the angels were against him in some way. Sarah is really the only angel that he can rely on. That didn't give him positive outcomes for this situation.

"I don't know." Caden answered, solemnly. "I don't know what to do Sarah. Who else can we trust? Who can we go to for help?"

Sarah pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes moving over the wooden floor. "I would think that Daniel most likely knows that I helped you escape heaven. He probably is looking for me as well."

"If we're being hunted, we can't afford to be leaving this place constantly. Soon, they will find our location."

"Natalie won't have any kind of chance if we wait any longer. Daniel will get impatient and...who knows what they might do with her."

That was a thought that Caden didn't even want to think about. But, Sarah was right. He knew how Daniel worked and he knew how easily frustrated he could get. "What do you suggest we do?"

"Maybe the only thing we can do is to try and meet with Henry. Work out some deal to get them to let Natalie go."

"You really think that's going to work?" Caden asked.

Sarah didn't answer Caden. She turned around and left the room, articulating to the other angel that this needs to be done. Sarah walked back out into the main room where Jake, Sam and Dean were talking, trying to figure out a plan of what they can do.

"We have a plan." Sarah's statement brought over the attention of the three hunters. She could see a small hint of distress in their eyes.

"What plan?" Sam asked, his brows raised in a sense of hope.

"Well, it's not a real concrete plan but I think the only way we can find Natalie's location is if, we try to make contact with Henry."

"Wait, you want out call out Daniel's little helper?" Dean asked.

"I don't mean actually contact him. I know a few angels that might be able to help us in this matter."

"Really? A few other angels?" Dean questioned. "You're seriously going to be putting trust into other angels. Sorry, I don't think that's the wisest choice."

"Look. You all obviously want to find Natalie; this is as good as it's going to get when it comes to plans. I'll go and find the ones who might help. Caden should stay out of this for as long as possible."

"And what happens if this plan doesn't work?" Dean asked.

"Then, we'll just need to find another way." Sarah only hoped that this plan would work. She knew that Naomi and the rest of her group were not happy with her or Caden. They both decided they wanted out. Well, Caden was the one who initially made his decision, Sarah ultimately went along with him. But, the more she thought about it, she didn't regret that decision.

Caden had kept himself out of the conversation. For the first time he felt, helpless. This was his fault. If he had not agreed to the plan, he would still be up in heaven, where he belonged and Natalie would not be in this situation. Not that long ago, when Balthazar and Caden were still hanging behind Castiel's back, Balthazar made several remarks to Caden. One of them being that if Caden stayed away from Natalie, it would benefit both of them. How right Balthazar was in the end.

Caden was forced to halt in his steps as a sharp ringing buzzed around his ear. It was loud enough for him to groan at the quick shot of pain he felt. Then, voices. They came at him in one single wave. Voices from the other angels, all of them muffled together creating a cacophony of noises. Caden could faintly hear both Sam and Dean calling him name, ultimately wanting to know what was wrong with him.

He placed his hand to the side of his head as the voices began to dim and soon just one was starting to come through more clear. The voice sounded very familiar—Caden paused when he recognized who it was.

"Natalie." The name slipped out, Caden didn't mean to say it. Though, it wasn't a negative.

"What?" Sam stepped closer. "Can you hear Nad?"

"She's praying to me." Caden narrowed his eyes as he focused on the messages that he was receiving from her, then he made a frustrated groan. "I can't get a mark on her location. They still have her on lockdown but...she said that Daniel has her in some kind of abandon building. She doesn't know where though."

Dean and Sam seemed to think that this was progress, but it was so faint. Natalie had no idea where she was and that information alone could have helped them end this. "Is she alright?" Dean asked.

Caden slowly shook his head. "She sounds weak..." Caden paused, waiting to see if he could hear anything else that might clue him in on her condition. "If something is wrong, she's not telling me."

The connection was severed and Caden was hit with another sharp ring that reverberated in his ears, creating a painful echo. "It's gone." He was straining to talk. "I can't hear her anymore."

"Alright." Sarah finally spoke. "I'm going to go. You guys stay here and wait for me to come back. I will have a way to get to Natalie."

….

Sarah really had no idea where to start. After leaving the cabin, she returned to the abandon house that served as Caden's temporary safe house. She didn't know exactly how she was going to do this. The house was still under a warding sigil making her location still discrete. But, she was starting to agree with what Dean told her. How sure was she that she could trust any other angel? Her and Caden seemed to be the only ones who could rely on each other. This was going to be tricky and Sarah knew that if she takes away the sigil, she would be exposed. Henry could come in and snatch her at any time. And she didn't want that to happen. Not that she was worried about herself. But, if Sarah were to be taken, at this point in time, there would be no way for the others to find Natalie. She had to come up with a different plan.

After pacing around the house for a few minutes, Sarah finally devised her plan. From what Caden has gotten from Natalie's prayers, Daniel was holding her in some kind of abandon building. That acted as a benefit and a disadvantage. There are a few key locations that the angels labeled as key places for them to use. Places where they can hold other angels or other creatures. The problem is there are more than a handful of them. Natalie could be in either of those places. Another problem Sarah faced was that there was probably a dozen more locations she had no knowledge of. If Daniel is smart, which Sarah knows he is, Daniel wouldn't hold Natalie in any of the locations that Sarah or Caden knew about. But, it didn't hurt to try. She needed to start somewhere and this seemed logical.

The list of places seemed endless. Michigan. Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, North Dakota, Iowa. Sarah's search felt like it was never going to end. There were several locations in each state that could have been where Natalie was being kept. Each time, she would only be met with empty warehouses and buildings. Sarah was going to have to return to Sam and Dean, without knowledge as to where Natalie was being kept. Truthfully, Sarah would rather not do that. However, during the time that she had spent traveling from one state to another, Sarah was able to be one with her thought.

One thing that she thought about consistently was Caden's reasoning for not wanting to work with Naomi on this anymore. This plan was much more expansive, it went beyond Naomi's own comprehension. Caden and only two other angels knew about this plan, from the beginning. Sarah didn't find out until much later, when Caden told her the whole story. It started after Amdusias was unleashed with his army. Up until this point, they had done nothing but wait. Waiting for the moment in which everything would fall into place. They had been watching over the Collins family. And they were instructed not to interfere with the family in any way. Even though it meant not helping them during their battle against Amdusias. But, the plan had been nothing more than an urban legend to the angels, none of them believed it. That is until the leviathans were unleashed and that's when everything clicked. The angels realized that the story wasn't false...it was true.

Sarah knew that the end result of this would be her and Caden being taken by the angels. If anything, it was to ensure that Natalie wouldn't be bothered because of them. However, that was a real long shot. Sarah had no idea how in depth Daniel was with the plan. If anything, the only reason he has Natalie is to simply get his hands on Caden. For all she knew, the plan meant nothing to Daniel. But, she had to consider the possibility of her and Caden surrendering to Daniel and the angels. Sarah couldn't help but think about how ironic it was that she was willing to do this. For Natalie. She had not necessarily given Natalie the most kind first greeting but that was just her riding out the frustration of Caden keeping a vital form of information from her for so long.

Either way, Sarah knew Natalie's importance and it was up to her and Caden to ensure that nothing would happen to Natalie. No matter what, they needed to keep her safe at all costs...even if it means sacrificing themselves.

Sarah had made her last stop. Nebraska. It was the last place she had known to house a location the angels would use from time to time. This building was bigger than the previous ones she had visited earlier. The minute she set foot into the place, Sarah knew this wasn't it. There was no sign of any angels, nothing to key her in that this place was being used. Instead of moving onto the next building, Sarah stood in place, her head hung back and eyes were closed. This search was pointless. She wasn't going to find Natalie this way.

"She's not here."

A voice echoed around the dark, building. Sarah turned and saw a young woman, shoulder length black curly hair and a fair complexion. Sarah's body eased with the familiarity she saw in the woman's eyes.

"Hannah." She breathed out. Sarah and Hannah both walked towards each other, both stopping when they were close enough.

"Unfortunately, your slim knowledge of their bases is not helping you."

"Even with what I know...it's not helping me in anyway." Sarah relented. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about Natalie's location."

Hannah slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to get any kind of information. But, none of the angels are willing to talk about it. They are being selective with who they share information with."

"This place was warded off. I thought that this might have been the location."

"That was me." Hannah answered. "I warded this place because I followed your pattern. I knew you were going to come here. I took the extra caution to seal this place off...so they couldn't find you."

Sarah nodded her thanks. "What are we supposed to do?"

Hannah could only think of one suggestion, but even she was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea. "Daniel has Natalie, in order to bargain for Caden. And now you are on the list as well."

"It was about time they found out about my involvement. You think the only way we can get Natalie out of there is to just...surrender?"

"Even if you did, I don't believe the angels are going to let Natalie go that easily. Naomi made a deal with Daniel..."

"How could Naomi betray us like that?" Sarah quickly questioned. "Naomi has no idea about the extent of this whole thing. She has no right to be calling the decisions."

"Before Seraphiel disappeared, Naomi was his closest confidant. Of course she would be the one to take the reins of this operation."

"Hannah." Sarah exhaled heavily. "Her plan...you can't truly agree to it."

"It won't kill her." Hannah's reply was very obsolete. There was no true emotion behind it and Sarah was caught off guard. "It is our way of gaining control over her."

"It will break her." Sarah took a few steps closer to Hannah. "You've seen what it has done to angels. It was meant for angels only. Can you imagine what it might do...to a human?"

Hannah broke her gaze and allowed her eyes to scan the floor. "There's nothing that you or I can do about this. Naomi has the upper hand, followers that beckon to her. You, me and Caden are no match against her and she is furious that you two would break away from this."

"Well. Seraphiel never mentioned this part. And I can guarantee, this whole idea was Naomi's."

"Did you or Caden manage to tell Natalie about this?"

"No." "Caden wanted to but the idea of losing the trust he has formed with her forbidden him from doing anything."

"Sarah. I am with Naomi. We have been waiting a long time for this. Watching over this family, allowing everything to play out. I can't just turn away from this."

"Then why are you here Hannah? Talking with me."

"Because I do believe that Natalie needs to be taken away from Daniel's hands and kept away from the angels. Not for long. She needs to find out the information on her own."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Are you and Caden willing to hand yourselves over?"

"I think Caden is willing to do whatever he can to make sure that she is safe. He's grown very fond of her."

"That was not the best decision on his part." Hannah admitted quietly. She had hardly spent any time on earth. Her view of humanity came from the sidelines, watching over them. Hannah hasn't had the benefit of being in close contact with a human for a long period of time.

"Why would Naomi tell Daniel about this whole thing?"

"That night, where Caden told Naomi that he was done. He didn't just bail out of the plan. He wanted to make sure that he protected Natalie...from us. From Naomi."

"What?" Sarah received a silent nod from Hannah. "He never told me that. Caden told Naomi that he was going to keep Natalie away from her."

"Hide her. Protect her. Do whatever he can to make sure that we won't be able to get to her." Hannah then gave a small head tilt. "Naomi thought that Daniel would be able to help with getting Natalie."

"You talk about her like she's some kind of object." Sarah commented, the disdain was evident in her tone.

"Naomi doesn't want to lose focus on this."

"Will you help us?"

Hannah has been standing by Naomi's side since this whole power struggle began in heaven. And with this new dilemma, Hannah had become a confidant to Naomi, carrying out several tasks for the angel. But now, Hannah has been able to see what panic can do to someone, even to an angel. Was Naomi going to Daniel for help the wrong decision? Probably. Hannah was in no position at the moment to form her own opinion on the matter. Yes, Hannah has seen the development of this plan since the beginning. She's watched over this family generation after generation, seeing them being picked off.

The leviathans escaping purgatory was the perfect event that helped push them to this moment. Natalie had already been given information about the tablets. It wasn't much for her to go on, but the angels were counting on the idea that she would be able to find them. The exact content of what is written on these tablets is unknown to every angel. Only the Scribe and God know what was written down. But, Naomi had been hinting to Hannah that she knows these tablets hold valuable information, excerpts that will allow the angels to use to their advantage.

"If I do...then I am betraying Naomi's trust. We can't afford me being on her hit list. If I don't stay with her then it will just be Naomi in control."

"It seems like it's already at that point, Hannah."

"I think the best way is for me to try and convince Naomi to get Daniel to lift the ward on the location. I'll tell Naomi that you and Caden are willing to come forward. And I just need to get Naomi to agree that letting Natalie go is the best decision."

"Just do what you can."

Hannah took a few steps closer to Sarah, her eyes showing the faintest hint of concern for the angel standing in front of her. "Sarah. If we do this, that place is going to be watched over by Naomi and Daniel. The minute you two set foot in that place...I can't guarantee that you will be able to make it out."

"Who said that Caden and I would try and get out?" Sarah shook her head. "This whole thing has gone down a completely different route, Hannah. It's chaotic. Maybe, Naomi will learn not to take measures like this anymore."

Hannah nodded silently. "I will try my best. I will contact you with information."

* * *

The cabin was in a state of tension. Sam and Dean were pacing around the cabin, waiting for Sarah to come back and they were trying to relieve some of their nerves. Alex was still sitting on the couch, with Jake right next to her, and her mind rushing with the memories of the night that they took Natalie and Caden kept mostly to himself. Silently hoping that Sarah was able to strike some gold with finding Natalie.

He just wanted to keep her safe. From everything. That even included Naomi. But, Caden should have known better. Naomi holds a higher rank than Caden, she's above him and has unlimited authority over him. It was partially due to her that he was able to escape heaven, so that he could return to Natalie. But, that doesn't count towards anything at this moment. Should he have just stayed with the plan? Maybe Caden could have influence Naomi to not take such drastic matters, to allow this to play out on its own. Of course, there are no guarantees that would have happened. Caden was trying to come up with his own "what if's" to try and ease down the guilt that was slowly eating away at him.

Even now, looking over at Sam and Dean, seeing how concerned they were for Natalie and for her safety, he could only imagine how their views of him would switch within a second if they knew about it...about everything. There was one thing he was positive on. They were going to protect Natalie at all costs, especially after this event. Caden even came up with the idea that Natalie would need to be hidden from the angels by being branded with Enochian. Caden had heard that Castiel did this to them the year Lucifer was released. It proved to be good use to them. He couldn't help but think that this was an extra cautionary step that needs to be taken.

The entirety of Sarah's absence was spent partially waiting in silence and communicating the information to others. Bobby had returned back to the cabin after running errands and was more than surprised to see Alex and Jake sitting on the couch and Natalie not being there. Sam and Dean of course had to fill Bobby in on what was going on and as usual, Bobby's own concern shown through and he had to settle for waiting for Sarah to return. Marina had also called Sam after she received Natalie's voicemail every time she called her phone. It wasn't exactly an easy thing for Sam to explain. Her sister being kidnapped by angels and them having no idea where she is. It's not exactly the kind of news Sam wanted to give but he wasn't going to keep Marina in the dark about it.

However, there was something that seemed misplaced in all of this. Sam had taken a notice and began to really watch Caden, his mannerisms, how he was holding himself. It seemed like there was something more that was bugging him, something he was keeping from Dean and Sam. Should he poke at the subject? Maybe, but Sam was too busy trying to drown out Lucifer's taunts. Natalie going missing made him vulnerable and now, Sam's had to deal with seeing him all over the cabin since Sarah left. He tolerated it as much as he could before, eventually, having to press against the scar on his hand. At least this tactic still proved to be useful to him.

The sound of wings filled the room and everyone collectively looked over to see Sarah standing near the front door.

"Did you find anything?" Dean was the first one to question, he wasn't going to waste any time. However, the answer he received wasn't the one he wanted. Sarah simply shook her head.

"I didn't find Natalie."

Dean emitted a vain scoff and turned his back to Sarah, his hand rubbed against the back of his neck. Everyone else were able to show their frustration through the silence that came after her words. It was thick enough to cut.

"But, I did get to speak with Hannah." Sarah said, making sure to turn her attention to Caden. "I think that Hannah will be able to help us."

"How so?" Sam asked, slowly approaching Sarah.

"Well, she doesn't know the location where Natalie is being held. However, she…" Sarah paused before she revealed Naomi's whole part in this. If she were to go down that route, she was going to have to tell Dean, Sam and everyone else here what she and Caden have been doing. "Hannah has a way to get information from Daniel and the other angels. She said that she will try and receive the location of Natalie. Until then…we have to wait."

Sam exhaled silently. "We don't have time to wait Sarah. We need to find out where Nad is. Now."

….

Natalie didn't know how much time had passed, all she knew was that her body ached with pain, she can taste the strong iron of leftover blood in her mouth, while her lips were encrusted with the substance but it had dried during her interrogation. Daniel went at her longer than she had anticipated. Each question he asked coincided with her pain growing more intense. She didn't crack. She wasn't going to. However, Daniel might win a small victory. Natalie never forgot what Daniel said to her about Caden and all she could think about was whether she believed him or not. _Had Caden been lying to her this entire time? Using her? _

At first, Natalie didn't believe any of it. She thought of Daniel's information as a form of getting her to turn against him. Natalie wasn't going to fall for that. But, the more time she spent being here, the more she allowed it all to simmer. Natalie thought back to that day, after she had left the hospital following her confrontation with Elias, Caden just appeared out of nowhere. She even asked him why he had helped her in the first place. He never gave her a concrete answer and even though she was skeptical of him, she grew to accept his reasoning. It all made sense to her. Why the sudden interest in her? Because she was going to be used in some stupid plan that the angels had devised.

The plan still remains unknown to her, but she didn't care about that. She had been played, lied to by someone that she trusted. Caden wasn't like all of the other angels she had met, he was a lot like Castiel. Honestly, that should've been her first clue to knowing that something would go wrong. From what she had experienced with Castiel, he was trying to do what he thought was right, but he was driven by his own mad determination. This whole thing with Caden is a completely different scenario that shared one commonality with Castiel, Natalie thought that they were _different. _She thought that they both cared about humans, that they would want to help no matter what. Guess she was wrong.

Aside from the fact that she felt incredibly stupid for actually trusting Caden, Natalie wanted nothing more than to get out of here. She had prayed to Caden earlier, hoping that it would help them find her. But, she was still here and clearly it didn't seem to help at all. She was exhausted, numbed to her very core and yes, she was scared.

Daniel had left, along with the other angels, leaving her to drown in this silence alone and weak. Natalie could only think about lying in her bed at the cabin and falling asleep. In fact, the idea of sleep had lured her into that state of mind. Natalie's head slowly hung down and her eyes closed from their heaviness. A part of her thought that if she were to fall asleep, maybe by some miracle when she woke up she won't be here anymore. It was a long shot and most likely wouldn't happen but it was something to keep her sane and calm at this point.

It didn't take long her to actually fall asleep. She felt her entire body ease and this bitter numbing that had tensed every inch of her body melted away. There was a familiar peace that fell over her, enticing her more into a sleep state. Then, the dreams came fast. They were just quick flashes of images. There was an old worn down house that was settled in the middle of nowhere and the image of a pair of cellar doors made a brief appearance before flashing into non-existence. Then…there was nothing. It was just an empty darkness that filled her conscious that then was coincided with a swirl of voice that started out as whispers and gradually turned into a clear voice and Natalie could recognize it. It almost sounded like her…father.

The voices swirled around in her mind, creating a cacophony of words that were being jumbled together. _Natalie. Protector. Mark. _Those were the only words that she was able to actually pick out, everything else just sounded like nothing but a huge mess. But, those three words were always the ones that stood out from the rest. The empty, hollow darkness that greeted Natalie flashed with a brilliant light which was accompanied with quick images of a man. Dark brown hair and she was able to catch a quick look at facial hair as well. However, one distinct feature stuck out, which was a scar on the right side of his chest, that was barely covered by the shirt he was wearing. And there was something very oddly familiar about him, but she had never see him before in her life.

_Natalie. Wake up._

The voice boomed around in her head, jolting her awake, her body shot up and the sensation of adrenaline pumping through her veins alerted her senses. Natalie breathed out heavy breaths and felt the restraints around her wrists had been loosened. Looking down, she pulled at the bonds, seeing them slide off and gather at the ground. _What the hell? _Raising her arms up, she quietly inspected her wrists, seeing that small bruising was already starting to form from how tightly she had been tied up. Natalie, unconsciously, moved her legs, hearing the bonds fall onto the ground. She had been untied…but by who?

_Go._

The voice appeared again, this time only as a faint whisper that sounded like it was dripping down the walls of the room. Natalie remained in her seat, rubbing at her sore wrists and looking around the room, seeing if there was any way to detect where the voice had come from. There was nothing. But the "dream" she just had and the fact that she was now untied, they were connected in some way. However, Natalie was able to gather herself and pull her focus together. She just needed to do one thing. She needed to get out of here.

…

"We can't do anything until Hannah has contacted me with the information." Sarah placed her explanation in a calm manner to Dean and Sam.

"How can we even know that we can trust…Hannah?" Dean was not comfortable with how willing Sarah was to put all of their trust towards this one angel. Dean and Sam had no idea who the hell Hannah was and they had no idea what this particular angel was like.

"Hannah is a good angel." Caden stepped forward, giving his own say in. "Sarah and I have known Hannah for a…very long time. We can trust her."

"Our trust with angels is a little spotty right now, so, sorry if were not exactly in the same boat as you two." Dean offered.

"Listen. If you want to get Natalie back, this is our best way of doing just that." Sarah argued. However, that wasn't the end of her little argument. Sarah went to say more when both she and Caden froze, their gazes fixing on nothing. The act took everyone by surprised, to them it looked like Caden and Sarah were having an internal freak out.

"Caden." Sarah quickly turned to the angel, who's eyes were already emitting the answer to her unasked question. "It's Natalie. We have Natalie's location." Sarah turned her attention back on Sam and Dean.

"What?" Sam's eyes widened. "How?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know. Whatever kind of ward they had on the place…it's been lifted. We have her location."

"Then let's go get her."

"Dean. No." Sarah quickly shot down the idea and she received a look from Dean. "We can't go."

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course we can!" Sarah and Caden just found out where Natalie was, of course Dean's first instinct is to just get over there as quick as they can.

"No. We can't." Sarah argued back. "Hannah needs to contact me. There is no way that Daniel would just lift the ward like that. This could be some sort of trap."

"Well, you know…" Sam spoke up. "We don't care. Nad is in some abandoned building where the angels have the opportunity to do anything they want with her. We need to Nad out. We're going now."

"If we go in there, it will be a suicide mission." Caden needed to try and reason with Sam and Dean. Yes, he wanted to get Natalie out just as much as they do, but Sarah brought up a good point. "We don't know why the ward has been lifted, but it can't be a good reason. We should wait for Hannah to contact Sarah and then we'll—"

Sam had pressed his hands up against his face, trying to drown out Lucifer while trying to come up with an argument to go against Caden's words. Finally, he let out a frustrated groan. "No! Caden we're not waiting any longer. You said that you wanted to do whatever it took to get Nad out. Well here's your chance. Her location might be sealed off again, this might be the only opportunity we have to end this. We need to move. Now."

The wisest choice for all of them was to wait for Hannah to contact Sarah with information. However, Natalie's location has been open and there has been no contact from Hannah. Caden knew that this was not her doing. This was very much some sort of trap to get Caden and Sarah to come out of their hiding. And honestly, Caden was tired of hiding. That is all he has been doing and he has done nothing but sit on his thumbs while Sarah tried to figure out where Natalie was hiding. No more. This was their only chance to get this over with and if that means Caden has to go with the angels, then so be it.

"Fine." Caden finally said. "We'll do this."

Sarah turned to Caden, her eyes widened. "Caden. This is not a good idea. We can't do anything until we have heard from Hannah."

"Sam is right Sarah." Caden interrupted. "We need to do this. I don't care what it will take. I'm tired of just hiding around, letting the angels do whatever they want."

Sarah rolled her eyes and exhaled. "I don't even know why I try to be the voice of reason anymore." She placed her hands on her hips and hung her head back, taking in slow breaths. Finally, she agreed. "If we do this, then we need to come up with a plan."

"Okay." Dean nodded. "So, I was thinking…"

"Sorry, Dean." Sarah cut off Dean's words and leveled her head so that she was looking at him. "If there is going to be a plan, it will be mine."

Dean was caught off guard by the finalization in Sarah's words and normally, he would have argued until she was annoyed enough to agree, but they didn't have time. "What's your plan then?"

"Caden and I will go to the location. We'll go into the building and locate Natalie."

"You're not going without Sam and me." Dean added.

"Fine." Sarah agreed. She didn't have time to argue with him. "Then you and Sam will stay outside of the building. We can't risk you two getting hurt and I know Natalie would not be happy if she found out about that."

"Well, let me go with you as well." Jake stood up from the couch.

"Absolutely not." Sarah shook her head. "The less people who go, the easier it will be."

"It's okay, Jake." Sam assured him, seeing the hesitation in his eyes. "We'll bring Nad back. You, Alex and Bobby just hang out here."

"Then let's get going." Dean offered in an eager tone.

"I just want to make sure that we are all on the same page." Sarah spoke up, forcing Dean to halt in his steps. "You and Sam will stay out of the building. Caden and I will bring Natalie to you. Do I make myself clear Dean?"

Dean gave Sarah a half nod. "Crystal clear, ma'am."

Sarah took detect a small hint of resilience in Dean's voice. However, she had a hunch that Dean was going to abide by her plan. If he wanted to get Natalie out of there quick, then he better stick to the plan and not run interference. Sarah turned to Caden, seeing the slow burning determination in his eyes.

"Caden." She waited for him to look at her. "Are you sure you will be able to do this? With half of your grace gone, your combat skills are not exactly the best."

Caden gave a limp shrug. "I will be able to hold my own. I just want to get in and out quick."

….

Natalie pressed her hands down on the chair arms and gingerly rose back up to her feet. After taking a moment to find her balance, Natalie began to stumble her way over to the door. Her hand found its way to her stomach, where the numbness was starting to turn into a swirling ache that was rising in intensity the more she walked. When she made it over to the door, her hand gripped tightly onto the door knob while she braced her other hand against the cold, worn down metal. Turning the knob, she was actually surprised to find that it was unlocked or maybe the thing that helped untie her unlocked the door for her. Despite the reasoning, Natalie pulled the chunk of metal open and peered her head out, seeing no one was standing in the hallway.

_Are all of the angels literally gone?_

She was able to take a small moment to simmer in her own confusion. _Why would the angels just leave her here? Unguarded?_ Perhaps it was a way to try and lure Caden out of hiding. During her time being tied up, Natalie was able to come to the conclusion that her location was being hidden by some kind of ward. Now, she can't help but feel like it's been lifted, for some reason, and she knows that Caden would jump at the chance to try and find her. However, Natalie wasn't sure how she was going to react to seeing him. She was still on the fence about what Daniel had told her. If she were to be blatantly honest with herself, she would conform to the fact that she was starting to believe Daniel's words. However, her stubbornness and unwilling to accept that she had been played, was forbidding her from doing so.

The only thing that Natalie was focusing on at the moment was trying to get out of this building. Once she was out, then she would figure out a way to contact Sam or Dean if she hasn't been found by that point. Natalie was just going to have to take her chances.

It was painful just taking small steps. Natalie could feel the swirl in her stomach build up, faster and faster. That didn't stop her. As she made her way down the bleak and dark hallway, several times, she had to spit out the blood that was slithering up her throat and gathering in her mouth. Natalie couldn't help but think about how annoying this was. Painful yes. But, incredibly annoying. Daniel just left her like this, hacking up blood and writhing in pain. He could have at least put her out of that misery. But, honestly, Natalie shouldn't have expected that level of kindness from him.

….

Outside of the building, Caden, Sarah, Sam and Dean had finally arrived at the location. They all took in the fact that this place was larger than they had anticipated. But, Caden and Sarah still had a lock on Natalie's location. They just needed to work quickly in case Daniel might return. Sam and Dean were in too much of a hurry and they tried to follow Sarah and Caden into the building. Sarah and Caden ultimately had to remind Sam and Dean to stay out here. They didn't want them creating any trouble. And if any of the angels are in there, the last thing they need is for the Winchesters to provoke them in any way.

Once they were assured that Sam and Dean would remain outside of the building, Caden and Sarah wasted no time and entered the building. The minute they were in, there was no sign of any angels and that only made Caden and Sarah grow uneasy. The only way that this place would be empty, without any angels around, is if this was all part of a plan. A plan to coax Caden out from his hiding and it worked. But, that was not Caden's concern. He just wanted to find Natalie and get her out of here. Then he would deal with the angels on his own. They made their way through the main room and were greeted by a few hallways that they had to choose from, which was easy for them. They were able to narrow down on Natalie's location, choosing which way to go wasn't complicated.

….

Natalie had made it about more than halfway down the corridor. The swirling in her stomach had now turned into a tight knot that was slowly growing tighter. The blood that was gathering in her mouth had slowed down considerably, but she was still having to spit the substance out. Nausea began to take over Natalie, swirling around in her head, making her vision go hazy. She just needed to keep going. Needed to keep on moving. The faster she moved meant that she would be able to get out of her faster.

Natalie's legs buckled and she fell against the wall, her hand pressed against the cold concrete, bracing herself as she slowly slid to the ground. Her knees made contact with the ground and leaned forward against the hand that was supported her up from the ground. Natalie opened her mouth, elicited a sickening gag and threw up thick blood that stained the ground in front of her. By the rate that she was going, there was no way she would be able to get out of here before the angels came back.

The sound if impending footsteps were muffled in her ears and the distinct sound of voices blended in with it. She wasn't able to fully make out words and she wasn't able to find anything familiar within those voices. She thought it was one of the angels who had found her and she could feel a sense of dread wash over her. Natalie had been given the chance to get out and she couldn't do it. And now, she's going to be taken back into that damn room, tied back up and have to sit there for god knows how long.

Natalie had expected a rough hand to take hold of her arm. Instead, it was a gentle hand that grasped her arm and the other cupped the side of her face, turning her head so that she would be able to look at the person. It was Caden.

"Natalie."

His voice was finally able to come through as clear to Natalie, the muffled barrier that been there earlier had now gone away. Natalie felt a flash of relief settle over her as she laid eyes on the angel. The careful touch he was ensuring to maintain brought comfort but in a split second Natalie could feel her building rage spill over. Caden had tried to help her back up to her feet and he managed to get her halfway up when Natalie pressed her hands against his chest and shoved him away.

"Get off of me." Her voice called out in a hoarse, raspy demand. Caden was perplexed by her sudden mood change and kept his hands off of her, taking a small step back.

"Natalie. What's wrong?" He tried again, making sure to keep the small distance between them. He didn't want to upset her even more.

Natalie braced her back against the wall, her knees slightly bent and arms hanging limply by her side. Her little outburst had taken more out of her than she had anticipated and she was trying to breathe in oxygen to help calm her aching body. But, she could see Caden take a slow approach towards her and she held her hand out to him. "Don't come near me. Don't even touch me Caden."

Sarah had been watching the scene in complete silence, completely taken back from Natalie's behavior. "What's with this whole new attitude of yours?" She finally asked.

"Daniel told me everything." Natalie admitted, allowing her hand to hang back down by her side. "He said that you have been sneaking behind my back." She glanced up, her eyes were empty. Completely void. But, Caden and Sarah to could sense that feeling of anger and betrayal. "Both of you. Keeping things from me. He said that I was your goal."

Caden was lost for words. This was something that he had not wanted to happen. If Natalie was going to learn about this, he wanted it to be from him, no one else. That day before she went to Oregon, he was going to tell her. But, the idea of losing that form of trust that they had developed stopped him from going any further. He didn't want to lose that. But, he should have been less naïve. She was bound to find out, regardless if she was told by him or not.

"Natalie, I-" Caden couldn't form words. He couldn't look her in the eye and try to lie to get himself out of this.

"Was he telling the truth?" Natalie asked, with more force behind her tone. "It's a simple answer Caden. Yes, or no?"

There was no point in trying to hold it back. This was his chance of finally coming clean. To finally tell Natalie the truth, which she deserved to be told way before any of this happened. "Yes. It's true." Caden allowed his head to hang. "Natalie I am so sorry."

Hearing the words come from Caden's mouth finally granted her what she had been debating over the entire time she had been here. _Had he been going behind her back? Keeping things from her?_ Yes. Normally, Natalie would have felt betrayed, which she did. But, Natalie was only able to see red. The pain that was boiling inside her stomach made her anger reach its limit. Natalie pushed herself away from the wall, her hand raised up and made contact with Caden's cheek. The contact was quick and it made her hand throb. Natalie immediately back up against the wall and rubbed at her numb hand.

"Shit." She hissed to herself. "You're just like every other angel." Natalie started, focusing her attention back on Caden, who was trying to recover from her attack. "You lie and you sneak your way around everything. I should have never trusted you. There was no way you would have just helped me in the hospital that night. I should have just gone with my instincts."

Sarah had heard enough of this. Natalie had a right to be upset, but this was not the place to be lashing out in. She stepped forward and grabbed hold of Natalie's arm. "Now is not the time for you to lash out your anger at Caden."

"Really? You were in on it too! You don't get to tell me when I can and can't lash out!" Natalie violently pulled her arm out of Sarah's grasp. "I can lash out whenever the hell I want!" She shoved Sarah against the shoulder only to lean over in pain.

"Obviously, you can't." Sarah retorted, not letting Natalie's physical action have any kind of effect on her. "We're here to get you out. Sam and Dean are waiting for us outside."

At the sound of their names, Natalie felt true relief. She just wanted to see them. To see Sam. To get away from Sarah and Caden. "Fine. I'll go to them."

"With our help." Sarah added.

"No." Natalie shook her head, trying to use the wall to get into a solid standing position. "I can do this on my own."

Natalie's attempt to get out of here on her own was shot down the minute her body sunk back down towards the ground. Her knees ached and her legs couldn't hold up the weight of her body.

"Sure you can." Sarah stepped forward and took hold of her arm. "Caden and I are going to get you out of here." Sarah nodded for Caden to come over, which he began to do, but a voice made everything pause.

"Hello Caden."

Caden and Sarah straightened their backs, they knew that voice all too well. They both stepped away from Natalie and turned to see Naomi and Hannah standing next to each other with two other angels behind them.

"Naomi." Caden greeted and Natalie took notice of how his voice seemed to be void of any emotion when he said her name.

Naomi offered Caden a smile, which held nothing to it. The smile had no emotion which would have made the skin crawl on anyone who saw it. "It has been a while since we have seen each other. Ever since the last meeting we had together, when you decided to back out of our plan."

"It was for good reason."

"And what reason would that be?" Naomi question, her head tilting to the side and her eyes glanced over to see Natalie, who seemed to be on the verge of passing out. "Her?" Naomi raised her brows as she asked the question. "She's been more trouble for us than we had ever anticipated."

"She wouldn't have been any trouble to you if you had not made a deal with Daniel to come up with this whole scheme."

"That was your own fault Caden. You threatened to keep her away from us. It was never your position to decide what Natalie will and will not do."

"I decided to take it upon myself after I found out what you were going to do to her."

Naomi slowly shook her head. "Only as a precaution." Her tone gave way to the notion that she didn't find anything wrong with her idea.

Caden scoffed. "Now, you decide to call it a precaution. I'm not going to let you take advantage of her own sanity in order to follow through with this. There is no need to put her through that."

"She already has the grace in her, Caden." Naomi began to reason with him. "She's been labeled with it. There's nothing we can do about it now."

"Our kind always thinks that there is only one way to handle something. We are able to branch out and make our own decisions."

"That is not what he created us for. Every time one of us tries to do what we personally think is right, it always ends up going wrong. Just look at what happened to Castiel." Naomi offered as an example. "He opens purgatory and unleashes the Leviathan on earth. And his motivation was that he thought that it was the _right _thing to do. It was his own personal decision." Naomi then gestured at Caden. "And look at what happened to you Caden. You were advised to only heal Natalie from her concussion, not to retain contact with her. It landed you into trouble. Half of your grace has been taken away and now, you have been on the run from us. All of because of her."

Naomi pursed her lips together in her own contemplation. "I knew that I should have dismissed you from your position. You were getting to involved with her."

"That was done all on my own personal accord. It was my choice to remain in contact with Natalie. And I will continue to protect her if I must."

"How exactly are you going to stand up against me? And all of the other angels?"

"He has me." Sarah stepped forward. "Not to mention the Winchester's are also in our corner as well. I know that you have never been a big fan of them. I can't imagine you would want them on your tail if Natalie ends up disappearing."

"Sarah. I expected better from you. I thought you were loyal."

"I am loyal. But, I am loyal to Caden."

"Caden made a huge mistake by letting you in on this. You were never supposed to know about anything. Caden, Hannah and I were the only ones."

"Well, that is too bad, because I know everything that you have done Naomi and I don't think your fight for the seat in heaven would bid well if all of the angels knew you helped break Caden out of heaven."

Naomi's face hardened and her eyes narrowed at Sarah. "I heard enough." She quietly commented and turned to the two angels standing behind her. "Take Caden and Sarah back to heaven. Hannah and I will bring Natalie someplace else."

Caden and Sarah both tensed, their eyes immediately focusing on Hannah, silently asking her to step in. Hannah sighed quietly and finally spoke up. "Naomi. If I may, this is a huge mistake that you are making."

Naomi paused and turned to Hannah. "What are you talking about?"

"You say Caden broke a rule by interfering with Natalie. Yes, he did. But, so are you. We had strict rules. No interference. None whatsoever, unless it was absolutely necessary."

"This is necessary."

"I do not believe it is. You are acting on your own paranoia. Ever since Seraphiel disappeared, you have been keeping to much of your attention on Natalie. Constantly worried. This is _not _what we were supposed to do. We should be letting Natalie find out this information on her own and when the time is right, we would make contact with her."

"What do you suggest then? Let Natalie go. What about Caden and Sarah? Should I just let them go too? I would never trust the two of them with her. Ever."

"Then I offer myself up." Caden spoke up. Naomi and Hannah both turned their attentions to him. "You can take me back to heaven. I'm very sure that Daniel would be more than pleased to see me return. In exchange, you let Natalie go. Let her go back to the Winchesters, back to solving this Leviathan mess."

Naomi didn't seem like she was going to take the bait. After some of the stunts that Caden has pulled trying to evade them, it would make sense if she was wary about trusting him with something like this. Sarah saw the confliction in Naomi's eyes and then offered another addition to the deal.

"You can take me as well."

Naomi gave Sarah a vain scoff, signaling that she wasn't going to be taking this bait. Sarah knew that she would have to convince her. "Naomi. I had every intention on helping Caden keep Natalie hidden from you. I went against my orders, against you. I deserve to be punished just as much as Caden. So, a deal. You take _both_ of us back to heaven. Do whatever you want with us. Natalie gets to walk free. And no more interference from you or Hannah or any of your angels."

"Naomi. I do think that it would be wise for you to agree with this." Hannah offered her own opinion in the matter. "And, if I am being perfectly honest, we are dealing with a hell storm up in heaven. You have already wasted so much time looking for Caden and even more keeping Natalie here. Plus, your deal with Daniel is going to cause conflict. She is trouble that we don't need right now. Natalie is the _least_ of our concerns."

One of the things that Naomi absolutely hated was being proven wrong. She had so much pride, which is something that most angels have and to admit that she was at fault, it was something that would normally never happen. However, she was able to see Hannah's side along with Sarah and Caden's. They were right. She had been wasting too much of her time focusing on Natalie when she should be concentrated on the fight to gain control of heaven.

Naomi relented and finally nodded. "Fine. Both your surrenders for Natalie to walk free…I'll take it." She turned to Caden, eyes barreling down on him. "But, just so that we are clear, when the time does come there will be nothing you can do to stop me."

Caden swallowed hard, both of them maintaining eye contact, each of them silently challenging the other. Caden just gave a quick nod, despite everything in him wanting to fight against her. However, Naomi seemed pleased with it and that gave him some kind of comfort. She wouldn't be bothering Natalie any time soon. Naomi made her way over to Natalie, who was still semi-conscious and gently touched her forehead. Natalie's body slumped and her head tilted to the side.

"Take her back to the Winchesters. But, Hannah will be going with you, make sure you don't try and escape again."

"I gave you my word." Caden confirmed his side of the deal.

"Go."

Caden walked over to Natalie and gently scooped her up in his arms. Hannah went to stand next to Sarah and Caden, then, the three of them vanished from the building, leaving Naomi to sulk in the silence.

….

"She's alright." Caden said as he gently handed Natalie over to Sam, who held her in his grasp, allowing her head to rest against his chest. "Daniel did a number on her, she should be out for a few days but she will be fine."

Dean had taken a quick assessment of Natalie while Sam held her and nodded. He looked over at Caden and Sarah, only to notice Hannah standing behind them. "Who's that?" He said, nodding at her.

"Hannah." Sarah answered.

"How did you get her out of there?" Sam was the next one to question, not really paying too much attention to Hannah.

"We made a deal." Sarah started. "Caden and I both offered our surrender, which is what they wanted, for Natalie's freedom."

"And they just…granted that. They didn't ask questions?" Dean was quite skeptical about how they had managed to get Natalie out with just a deal. Angels were usually a lot harder to crack.

"No."

Caden nodded and exhaled heavily. "So, this is goodbye. For a while."

Dean nodded and narrowed his eyes at them. "Are you two going to be okay?"

"You know as well as us, our kind tends to not be too lenient on those who go rogue. But…Sarah and I will be able manage ourselves."

Sam looked down at Natalie and adjusted his hold on her. "Thank you, for doing all of this. Just to get her out."

Sarah remained silent and then shook her head. "You don't need to thank us. It was the least we could do."

"And I have said it before." Caden said. "I said that I would save her, no matter what the cost is. But, I'm not going to be able to be there to help her anymore. So, you two need to keep an eye on her."

"You know we will." Dean said, the unsaid part being that Caden shouldn't even have to tell them that.

Caden nodded. He knew that Natalie was in safe hands when it came to Sam and Dean. He couldn't even decently protect her from the angels. But for some reason, Caden always had this gut feeling that Sam and Dean would risk themselves to make sure that Natalie would never get hurt. And that gave him some sort of ease.

Caden didn't say anything else as he turned to walk back over to Hannah, allowing Sarah to send Dean and Sam back to the cabin.

"Caden wait." Sam spoke up and waited for Caden to look at him. "What do we tell her? When she wakes up?"

Caden thought for a moment, his eyes glancing down in thought. "Tell her…I'm sorry. She won't need to hear anything else except for that."

Sarah didn't wait for Sam or Dean to say anything else. She knew that the faster they get sent back the easier this would all be. She stepped forward and pressed her fingers against their foreheads, sending them back to the cabin.

* * *

**So what did you guy think? Like I said, I don't like how this chapter turned out and I was tempted to re-write it completely but that would have taken me longer to write and I wouldn't have been able to get it up for you guys until like January and I didn't want that to happen. Just to clear it up, Hannah in this chapter is the same one we met in season 9. She has a different vessel for this chapter but when we get to her in season 9 she will have the same vessel as she had in the show. **

**Now, I realize that it is taking me longer to pump out these chapters and I am truly sorry about that. But, I do think that I have a reason for it. Season 7 has become more complicated for me because this is the story where more information about Natalie's story arc will be hinted out. Now, one of the problems with creating an original arc is that my brain doesn't know when to stop coming up with ideas. So, currently, Natalie's story arc is vast and it is more than I had originally intended there to be. This also leads to another problem, which is my self-doubt. When it comes to original content, I am always doubting myself whether it will be good or whether it would make sense. And because I doubt myself it takes me longer to write because I tend to think that what I have written isn't good enough or doesn't make sense. This is a problem I have always had when it comes to writing original content and it slows my writing process, _tremendously_. I don't have anyone to talk to in-depth with this plot, so I don't have the opportunity for feedback. I promise I am trying to be quicker with the writing. I am so sorry for these long waits for chapters. I do hope that I am able to pick up the pace. **

**Also, Natalie's story arc does have a backstory and I am currently working on writing out the history. On the main blog there will be a page dedicated to that backstory. It is not published yet, as I am still working on it, but it will be up soon. So make sure to keep checking the page.**

**Thank you so much for the support guys. I really appreciate it. It's what helps me keep on pushing myself to write.**


	11. Aftermath & Author's Note

_A/N: This is not a long chapter, It's actually really short. I am not happy with this chapter. This was actually the beginning of a longer chapter but this was all I could write. I am so sorry. There is some very important news in the author's note at the end. So make sure you guys read it. _

_To Ladyshine6, I'm sorry for not sending you a sneak peak. I just couldn't write out the full chapter._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural_

* * *

Sam and Dean felt disoriented when they were zapped back over to the cabin. They were standing in the middle of the main room, Jake, Alex and Bobby were all staring at them, seeing Natalie, unconscious, in Sam's arms. It took Alex asking if Natalie was alright to snap Sam and Dean back to reality. Of course, they replied with the fact that she was, however they couldn't answer the question as to what exactly happened to her. That would have to wait until Natalie woke up, which could be days from now.

Sam wasn't in the best mood to continue on with the discussion. He simply dismissed himself and carried Natalie into the bedroom that they have shared together since arriving at the cabin. Leaving Dean with the others, forcing him to give a half detailed explanation of what went down. Sam and Dean had no idea what went on in the building, the only thing that they were told was that Caden and Sarah made a deal, now Natalie wouldn't be bothered by the angels. At least, that's what Dean was hoping for. Natalie was out of there and back at the cabin, he was relieved about that. However, he couldn't shake off the curiosity that settled in his mind the minute this whole thing started. Caden and Sarah had been acting a little off. More than usual.

Over the course of growing up and being trained as a hunter, Dean had obtained the skill of being able to read people. Sometimes he doesn't do the best job, but he is able to notice when something isn't right with a particular person. He's done it with Sam, Bobby and Natalie as well. So, it is no surprise that his red flags were starting to go off when he noticed how Sarah and Caden were reacting to the whole situation. There was something that they were not telling him or Sam. Not to mention the fact that Sam spoke with Dean about the strange conversation Natalie had with Caden before she left for Oregon. Something was clearly on Caden's mind and he didn't have the stomach to actually come forward with the information. Did this information have to do with Natalie being taken? Dean wasn't sure on that part, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was all connected somehow.

The only problem, of course, Dean had no idea what Caden was holding back from them. It had to be very important for him to be keeping it from them and eventually backing out from telling Natalie. Dean was confused about how he felt about all of that. Was he angry? He didn't really think so. Was he surprised? Not really. Dean has already had experiences where angels kept information from him, that was something he was used to. But, like everything else, Dean knew that he was going to be reading too much into it. There was already enough going on that had to deal with Natalie. They were still confused about Death's warning, now Caden was keeping something from them and she was kidnapped by the angels. Something was going on. There was no question about it. The only thing that was left was to find out what exactly it was all about.

However, Dean could care less about that in the moment. They were back at the cabin; Natalie was with them. Everything was fine. Dean decided to sit down with Jake, Alex and Bobby, to discuss with them everything that he knew, which was very little. He and Sam were forced to stay out of the building while Caden and Sarah went in to find Natalie. But, he did express his suspicions with them. Bobby and Jake were more worried about it than Alex was. Of course, she was the outsider in this conversation. More than half of what they were going on about was complete gibberish to her, this ultimately forced Dean to explain several things to her, in order for her to gain a better understanding.

But, Dean did bring up a point about the fact that Alex shouldn't even be in the conversation. In fact, Alex should not even be here at the cabin anymore. Dean offered to take her home, to which she refused. Alex stated that she was going to wait until Natalie woke up, that way, the two of them could talk before she left. Alex thought it would be a bitch move if she just got up and left while Natalie was still unconscious. Plus, there was a part of Alex that felt guilty for letting the angels take Natalie. There was nothing she could have done. Dean had to remind her that constantly while they were sitting at the table. She knew it was the truth, but she couldn't help herself. Alex and Natalie were the same in that sense.

While the conversation was going on in the main room, Sam had locked himself away in the bedroom with Natalie. He had placed her on the bed, gently and removed her boots and jacket, putting them to the side. Sam took notice at the darkening bruising that were located around her wrists. Gently taking her hand, Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her arm up so he could inspect them more. Sure enough, he could see the bruising. His expression hardened but he gently brushed his thumb over the sensitive skin before setting her arm back down.

The dried blood on her mouth caught his attention next. He quickly went into the kitchen, ignoring the eyes that were looking at him, to get a wet rag. Once he obtained what he needed, he quickly retreated back into the room, not saying a word to the others. He went quickly, wiping the blood on and around her mouth. Sam was able to get a quick look inside her mouth, seeing there was still more dried blood but he knew that sticking a wet rag in there would be really weird. He would just have to let Natalie clean out her mouth when she wakes up and he has no idea when that is going to be.

Sitting in silence, Sam finally allowed himself to think through this entire event. The initial anger at the angels for taking Natalie in the first place was still present. However, right behind that, there was the questioning that had been occurring since Dean mentioned to Sam about how Caden and Sarah were acting. Sam, at first, didn't pay too much attention to it. He just wanted to get Natalie back and make sure that she was safe. Now that had been done, there was time for him to really start thinking things through. Caden had already seemed off before any of this went down. Natalie had told Sam that Caden tried to tell her something that he was acting weird. But, Sam couldn't help but notice how Caden's behavior and Natalie's kidnapping seemed to be correlated. He wasn't sure exactly how, but it was too much of a coincidence for him to just brush it off.

That led him to guessing what it was that Caden was so desperate to tell Natalie but opted out of it. It was important, that much was a given. But, Natalie never gave Sam the specifics about what was actually said during that conversation. Sam assumed that he would have to wait until Natalie woke up and then the questioning began. But, as he sat there, looking at her, he didn't want to have to question her about Caden or any of the angels. Surely, she was put through enough, thanks to Daniel, to immediately bombard her with questions about something that she would definitely be too sensitive about, made Sam rethink that particular strategy. Whenever Natalie woke up, they would have to give her time. Sam understood Natalie and knew that if she were to be attacked with all of that questioning, it would probably drive her insane.

All of that would be confronted when the time came. For now, Sam was content to just sitting there next to her, watching her sleep. Whenever he would do this, he couldn't help but constantly feel like he was being weird. He's done it before. The following days after they arrived at the cabin, when he couldn't fall asleep as easily, he would simply watch Natalie. Hearing her soft breathing that coincided with her chest rising and lowering, it brought a form of peace to him. Especially with the hell he has been going through with Lucifer taunting him, having Natalie by his side offered a sense of security and realism for Sam. That thought is what helps him finally drift to sleep at night. Knowing that she was there, next to him, it's all he needs to keep himself grounded. God only knows what Sam would do if he ever lost her.

* * *

**Okay. So, this is something that I never thought would happen while writing this story, but unfortunately it has come to this. You all may notice that it has been taking me a lot longer to get new chapters out. And in the previous chapter, I gave you all an explanation as to why I believe was the reasoning. However, since I posted that chapter, I have been thinking a lot about the series and where I am mentally with writing it. Thus, I have decided to put this whole series on hiatus. Now, before you all get mad, please allow me to explain. **

**I have been writing this series for over two years. Two years I have spent, using all of my free time and energy to write this story out. I did it because the idea was so tempting and the itch to write it out was too much. So I did. And I don't regret it one bit. But, I would literally spend every single day drafting out the chapters, hardly doing anything else. But, I loved writing my stories, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it. Then, we got to This Broken Gospel and that is where I started to notice that my drive to write out this story was slowly starting to burn out. I was confused by this and I eventually spoke with a friend of mine, who has been writing longer than I have and I asked her what was wrong with me? And she told me that there was nothing wrong with me, it was just the fact that I was driving myself into the ground. She told me that usually, when someone gets focused on writing a particular story out and that's all they can think about, usually you start to lose interest in it at a fast rate. **

**Now. I will say that I was in complete denial after she told me that. I didn't want to think that I was losing the drive to write out this story. But, slowly I came to my senses. My muse and motivation was in low supply. After posting the previous chapter, I opened up a new document to start on chapter 11 and I literally could not write it. Writing chapter 10 was very hard for me because I literally had to _force_ myself to write it out. The fact that I would have to force myself and push myself that hard, just to start writing a chapter is the biggest red flag. I shouldn't have to struggle that much to write a chapter. Especially when I compare it to my writing rate for the previous stories, it's very disheartening when I saw how long it was taking for me to write out chapters. **

**So, what does this all mean? It means that this story will be on hiatus for an indefinite amount of time. Because my muse for this story has dropped, ideas for other stories have started to spur up. So that means that I will be working on a brand new fanfic. It is a Star Wars fanfic, based on The Force Awakens and I am bringing my own oc into the story. This particular idea is very prominent right now and I _need _to write it out. **

**Now, I don't want you guys to think that I am completely abandoning this story, I'm not. In fact, my hope is that while writing out my star wars fic, it will allow me time to gather my thoughts about my spn series and hopefully, refuel my muse to start writing it again. **

**Also, I just want to say thank you, to each and every one of you for reading these stories. I wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you guys and I wish there was more I could do to show my appreciation. And I feel like complete crap for putting this story on hiatus. But, I know that if I have to continue to push and force myself to write these chapters, I will lose all of my interest entirely. I need some time away from this series so that I can collect my ideas and thoughts and come back stronger than ever. **

**If you are a fan of star wars, I do hope you will check out my story when I publish it. Again, I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY FOR GOOD. I will come back and pick up where I left off. I am just not sure when that will be. I am not going anywhere, I will be writing this new fanfic, so I will be active on here.**

**Thank you so much you guys. And I hope that I didn't disappoint you too much. And if you guys ever want to talk about Nad or this series, just pm me or head over to tumblr. This story is still my baby and I will never get tired of talking about it.**

**Thank you,**

**Emilia Christine. **


	12. Announcement

I'm sorry for making you guys think that this was an update. But, this is an important announcement for all of you.

Ever since I placed this story on hiatus, I've gone on to write for other fandoms. In doing so, I have been able to collect my thoughts on my spn series and where exactly I stand when it comes to these stories and whether or not I was going to return to writing them. After a few months of debating with myself, I have finally made up my mind. I have decided to _completely re-write This Broken Gospel, into a brand new book. _And I know that re-writes of stories don't always sit well with readers, but please allow me to explain.

After I went on to write other stories, I never fully stopped thinking about this one. And I tried my hardest to write, what would be, the next chapter to this story. I honestly could not bring myself to do it. I couldn't pick up where I left off. So, I thought, my writing has improved slightly and looking back over, I didn't like where I was taking this particular story and Natalie's arc. That's when the idea hit me, just re-write the story. That's what I'm going to do. Now, let me explain what will stay and what will be cut out in the new story.

The story arc that I had been planning for Natalie will be cut out from the story. The idea was just too complicated and a lot of it really didn't make sense and it was confusing. I think this was one of the biggest reasons I stopped writing this story. The arc was just too overwhelming for me. So, I am taking it out. The beginning of this new book will start right after the events of Distant Serenity. Most of the first chapters will be somewhat the same, but written differently. Alex is going to be a recurring character. I know a lot of you wanted to see her and Dean form a relationship, but my main focus is Natalie's relationship with, not only Sam, but with Dean as well.

As for when the new story (titled Only We Remain) will be published, I can't answer that. My focus is primarily on my marvel fanfic, so this is something that I will be working on slowly, bit by bit. I know for a fact that this story won't be published until I have the first few chapters typed out and edited. But, this is the plan for now. I am so sorry to everyone who didn't expect this. But, honestly, I am pretty excited about this re-write. I feel like I will be able to do this story and Natalie more justice and I hope you all will stick around for the new story!

If you ever have any questions, you can send me a pm on here or on my tumblr blog (info on my profile). I will be leaving this announcement up for a few days then I will delete it!

See you guys soon!


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